This Week in Weird Sports: Street Luging

You just said “Lug-ing” in your head, didn’t you?

You just said “Lug-ing” in your head, didn’t you?

Not pictured: three-mile long skidmark.

It’s pronounced loozh, silly. A sport not originally associated with asphalt—old-school racers ply their trade on ice and not concrete—luging is the suicidal pursuit of speed courtesy of a hill, gravity and rickety, single rider sleds.


The ice-y original is over 100 years old while its street cousin had its first official contest in 1975. Between heavy doses of LSD and paint thinner, early West Coast skateboarders “discovered” they went faster going prone on their boards during downhills. These masters of Newtonian physics went on to codify the sport and design dedicated sleds to replace their skateboards.


An X Games original, street luge fell out of the competition in favor of sports with more commercial appeal in the early 2000’s. But it maintains a healthy international following courtesy of the IGSA. And if you feel like facing what is sure to be certain death (or at least a terrible mangling) you can register your body for organ donation, er, we mean, competition, here. Nice knowing you!