I started skating bobsled tracks in 1996 already. As there was no experience (no one has ever tried it before) I had to try again and again for 2 days before I made my first chrashless descent on a longboard. Since that time I made around 300 runs in 7 different bobtracks around Europe. The gloves I am using are mororcycle gloves.
That is straight gangster. Absolutely phenomenal courage and confidence this man has. That's what I love about longboarders; always unorthodox, inventive, original and forever pushing limits of what is possible. Absolutely amazing run, man!
A longer version of a skateboard would still mean it's a skateboard and that is an over simplification of what a longboard is. Just look up different types of longboards, it won't take too much of your time.
It is! Well, I had the idea to try that back in 1996. Red Bull made an inline skate downhill in one of the bobtracks, so I asked them if I can skate there as a show rider, at that time still on a snakeboard. In 1998 I made my first try with a skateboard.
Thanks alot. 1st difference: i am skating on concrete, a bobsleigh on ice. 2nd: a bobtrack is made for lying and sitting and not for standing athletes like me. So, sometimes the roofs are really deep and close to my head. Both, bobsleds (120-140 kph) and luges (around 100-120 kph) , are way faster than me on my skateboard (80 kph).
Yes, I do! But not only for obstacles, also for things like changes in painting which could influence the grip etc. If I enter a new, unknown bobtrack I alway make an extended track inspection analyzing difficuld or even dangerous places.
thanks for inspiration! what an awesome place to skate ive been a skater all my life and my body is a bit too broken now to skate street like i used to, So now I am moving over to longboarding due to the need for that speed rush and road rash!
Thanks for saying that, I really appreciate it. I believe in an open society where everyone is allowed to critizise everyone (but in a polite way), even if it´s me.
That depends alot on the track. In Sarajevo it´s the huge blastholes, some tracks have really technically difficult parts. In the beginning the expansion joints look scary, but at high speed they don´t matter. One time I had a technical problem that caused a crash (my truck broke), but mostly it´s a riding mistake. Luckily I only had few crashes so far which mostly ended harmless.
You´re absolutely right: a longboard is no skate boad, it´s a skateboard! It´s a specific kind of skateboard. So go and change wiki and the logic of the world. If you´re already doing this, can you please also change gravitation law? This would help me alot sometimes... thank you!
Yes, this is a bobsled/ luge track usually used for winter sports such as in the winter olympics. I use this race course in summer, without ice, just on concrete. Haha, the camera guy is not so poor. He´s one of my friends on inlineskates which I gave my camera to follow me.
Well, there´s a big difference between 85 kph on snow and on concrete. And there´s even a big difference between skating a road and a bobsled race track. You will know that when an iron roof passes your head at 80 kph at a distance of only 20 cm. My (measured) top speed on a snowboard is 136 kph btw.
It´s probably because I am a really lousy skater. I made my first longboard downhill ever in a bobsled track, in 1998. At that time my goal was just to arrive in one piece. For one decade I was the only person in the world doing that so i had no other skaters to tell me what I could do better. Now we are starting to launch this as a new sport and I recognized how horrible my tuck is. I am working on it!
My wheels are 75 mm. The first times I tried to skate a bobsled track I thought the gaps would be a problem, too. But in fact, they are not at all, even if they are up to 30 mm wide. The faster you go, the less they disturb.
I will probably not hit a stone for 2 reasons: 1. This is a closed and maintained racetrack where I always do an inspection before riding. 2. Even if there was a stone: it can only lie in the flat, it won´t stick on the wall where I am riding (unless someone glued it there by purpose). In the straights there is always enough visibility to notice it and enough space to skate around it.
It was defenitely the one in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This bobsled track was destroyed in war. In each turn there are 8-10 blast holes directly on my speed line. You can find a camera run I made in the Sarajevo bobsled track on my UA-cam channel.
Cool, a new longboarder is born! You're very much welcome. Look at the music credit at the end of the video and you'll know that it is 'Freedom' by 'Redhanded' ;-)
Massive props!! One speed wobble and you are done, those walls are designed to retain objects with much lower COGs, (and can barely do that). Have you ever biffed it on one of these runs? I would imagine the goal is to just drop if you know you are going to go down? Freaking cool man!
they do look so nice. i know a few people running the magun trucks. haven't ridden any yet but they do look so nice and everyone loves them! wish i had the money. really do! some really beautiful piece of engineering.
I guess some people just always have to moan something... Hey, it´s pretty awesome that someone awesome as yourself is commenting my video! ;-) Thanks for your compliments and for subscribing.
I'm a long boarder myself in CA and Ihave no idea how u don't fall off or lose balance! Did u have to practice a lot to be able to do that and what are those gloves used for? PLEASE REPLY
What in life is safe? Driving a car? Climbing a ladder? You can always ask for a safer ambience, but you can also try to adapt to the environment and do your best to eleminate risks. That´s what I´m doing. I also recognized Nodar Kumaritashvili´s accident right after it happened and believe me, it made me think, too. But that still did not keep me from bobtrack skating just as a car accident shown on TV doesn´t keep me from driving cars.
No, it´s not bumpy at all because the concrete in most of the tracks is smooth - except of the expansion joints which are up to 4 cm (!) wide. Well, I always thought being thrown out is impossible because of gravity, but Nodar Kumaritashvili´s lethal accident in the Winter Olympic Games 2010 proved that it could happen. And no, I´m not accidentally, but by purposely leaped into another dimension ;-)
Yes, sure, I have been bailing a couple of times. But in most cases there happens just nothing because I am always well protected. My top speed is 80 kph (50 mph) btw...
AWESOME video and camera work .... BRAVO ...! Well done indeed... Question, please ... if I may. What is the time difference between ah bobsled and skateboard in the race to the bottom.? And do you know if the luge is quicker than say 4 man bob sled team..and or the skateboard dude...? Thank you ....
Actually not a single bobtrack is open for skating, I had to work hard to get permission to enter some of them. Yes, there are bobtracks in america: Lake Placid, Park City, Calgary and Vancouver.
Strange enough I never ever had any problems with speed whobbles, don´t know why. Sure, once a while I am crashing. If so, I mostly slide on my stomach. Mostly I slide out pretty quick, the longest mark my leather left was 21 meters long in the olympic bobtrack of Sarajevo (that was one of the really painful crashes). If you want to read what other skaters think about bobtrack skating please read Ben Malherbe´s article "Something Else in a Nutshell: A flashback to Beton on Fire" on "skateslate".
Actually my trucks are so tight that most of the skaters would feel unconfortable. Where is your hometown? If you skate that track please make sure that you have the permission to enter the track because we are just trying to establish bobtrack skating as a real sport. I just came back from the bobtrack in La Plagne, France, where we had the 2nd tour stop of the "Beton on Fire" race series and we´re looking for other bobsled tracks to join the tour next year...
Strange enough that everybody is talking about speed whobbles... I never had that there! The speed sensation is higher because of the narrowness of the track. I´m riding a Magun speedboard with Magun trucks.
Before this turns out to a never ending story: Actually I started longboarding in a bobsled track (before I was snakeboarding - uuh! I can already hear some people moaning about that!), there I made my very first run. Don't ask me why I started pushing mongo, it was just like that 14 years ago. Actually I cann't see any disadvantage of that with one exception: Footbraking is much harder being a mongo, maybe that´s why I don´t really know how to do it (anyway I don't brake at all in the track).
okey,. here it comes you guys are my motivation to go longboarding ,. thank you for this awesome video and i have a question ehm,. what is this song called?
Just follow the link to eMusic or iTunes on the right side under the video, there you can buy the song. Btw, the whole Redhanded-album "Closer" is great! ;-)
I started skating bobsled tracks in 1996 already. As there was no experience (no one has ever tried it before) I had to try again and again for 2 days before I made my first chrashless descent on a longboard. Since that time I made around 300 runs in 7 different bobtracks around Europe. The gloves I am using are mororcycle gloves.
Crazy speed!
That is straight gangster. Absolutely phenomenal courage and confidence this man has. That's what I love about longboarders; always unorthodox, inventive, original and forever pushing limits of what is possible. Absolutely amazing run, man!
That's a longboard not a skateboard..come in people get your facts right.
A longboard is a skateboard.
Scout DuBois not even close.
By fucking definition, a longboard is a skateboard. There are longboards with double kicks, some even look exactly like longer trick boards.
Scout DuBois you're dumb…a longboard is a longer version of a skateboard that goes 2x faster.
A longer version of a skateboard would still mean it's a skateboard and that is an over simplification of what a longboard is. Just look up different types of longboards, it won't take too much of your time.
It is! Well, I had the idea to try that back in 1996. Red Bull made an inline skate downhill in one of the bobtracks, so I asked them if I can skate there as a show rider, at that time still on a snakeboard. In 1998 I made my first try with a skateboard.
Thanks alot. 1st difference: i am skating on concrete, a bobsleigh on ice. 2nd: a bobtrack is made for lying and sitting and not for standing athletes like me. So, sometimes the roofs are really deep and close to my head.
Both, bobsleds (120-140 kph) and luges (around 100-120 kph) , are way faster than me on my skateboard (80 kph).
Jarred, that's just water, not a hole (for some reason I cannot reply directly to your comment, sorry).
Absolute respect to the cameraman doing the exact same with camera at hand. Kudos to you!!
Yes, I do! But not only for obstacles, also for things like changes in painting which could influence the grip etc. If I enter a new, unknown bobtrack I alway make an extended track inspection analyzing difficuld or even dangerous places.
thanks for inspiration! what an awesome place to skate
ive been a skater all my life and my body is a bit too broken now to skate street like i used to, So now I am moving over to longboarding due to the need for that speed rush and road rash!
Thanks for saying that, I really appreciate it. I believe in an open society where everyone is allowed to critizise everyone (but in a polite way), even if it´s me.
Thank you very much for being the first one ever to do thiat on this video.
As written in the music credit it´s "Freedom" by "Redhanded". You can find their album "Closer" on Amazon & i-tunes.
You´re absolutely right, there is not a single mounted camera in this video, it´s all hand held.
i love soooo much that this video is two years old and ur still replying to comments :)
Wow, thanks for this great compliment!
Oh, sure! It´s "Freedom" by "Redhanded" (you can find this also in the music credit in the video). Thank you for the compliment.
That depends alot on the track. In Sarajevo it´s the huge blastholes, some tracks have really technically difficult parts. In the beginning the expansion joints look scary, but at high speed they don´t matter. One time I had a technical problem that caused a crash (my truck broke), but mostly it´s a riding mistake. Luckily I only had few crashes so far which mostly ended harmless.
So, is anyone else more impressed with the camera man's speed control? Bravo unnamed camera guy. Bravo
You´re absolutely right: a longboard is no skate boad, it´s a skateboard! It´s a specific kind of skateboard. So go and change wiki and the logic of the world. If you´re already doing this, can you please also change gravitation law? This would help me alot sometimes... thank you!
It´s written in the music credit! And you can find it if you just follow the iTunes or eMusic link under the video! It´s "Freedom" by "Redhanded"!
The gravity sensation (standing horizontally on a skateboard) is absolutely the best.
Yes, this is a bobsled/ luge track usually used for winter sports such as in the winter olympics. I use this race course in summer, without ice, just on concrete. Haha, the camera guy is not so poor. He´s one of my friends on inlineskates which I gave my camera to follow me.
Which ones do you mean? The rollerskate trucks mounted under wooden planks or those little plastic boards?
Well, there´s a big difference between 85 kph on snow and on concrete. And there´s even a big difference between skating a road and a bobsled race track. You will know that when an iron roof passes your head at 80 kph at a distance of only 20 cm.
My (measured) top speed on a snowboard is 136 kph btw.
It´s probably because I am a really lousy skater. I made my first longboard downhill ever in a bobsled track, in 1998. At that time my goal was just to arrive in one piece. For one decade I was the only person in the world doing that so i had no other skaters to tell me what I could do better. Now we are starting to launch this as a new sport and I recognized how horrible my tuck is. I am working on it!
It's "Freedom" by "Redhanded" (you can also find this info in the music credit).
Well, I love them, too because they are so precise to ride, not compareable to any other truck. But you're right, these trucks are not really cheap.
My wheels are 75 mm. The first times I tried to skate a bobsled track I thought the gaps would be a problem, too. But in fact, they are not at all, even if they are up to 30 mm wide. The faster you go, the less they disturb.
I will probably not hit a stone for 2 reasons:
1. This is a closed and maintained racetrack where I always do an inspection before riding.
2. Even if there was a stone: it can only lie in the flat, it won´t stick on the wall where I am riding (unless someone glued it there by purpose). In the straights there is always enough visibility to notice it and enough space to skate around it.
It was defenitely the one in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This bobsled track was destroyed in war. In each turn there are 8-10 blast holes directly on my speed line. You can find a camera run I made in the Sarajevo bobsled track on my UA-cam channel.
i'm way more impressed by the camera man who is doing the exact same thing AND filming! Props to the camera man!
Cool, a new longboarder is born! You're very much welcome.
Look at the music credit at the end of the video and you'll know that it is 'Freedom' by 'Redhanded' ;-)
As written in the video comment it´s Philipp Auerswald and myself.
Danke für das Kompliment, mir geht es sehr gut! Dein Deutsch ist doch super!
No, as you can read in the video description he was on inlineskates.
Whoever held that camera deserves just as much props as that dude, cos he kept the perfect distance the WHOLE TIME that was shot...
Board: Magun speedboard, Trucks: Magun, Bearings: Boss speed bearings, Wheels: too old (I don´t know), Griptape: taped on by Magun.
Massive props!! One speed wobble and you are done, those walls are designed to retain objects with much lower COGs, (and can barely do that). Have you ever biffed it on one of these runs? I would imagine the goal is to just drop if you know you are going to go down? Freaking cool man!
It´s a Magun speedboard with Magun trucks (Magun is a very small, high quality Swiss brand).
Now it is! We already had the first competitions, called "Beton on Fire"!
they do look so nice. i know a few people running the magun trucks. haven't ridden any yet but they do look so nice and everyone loves them! wish i had the money. really do! some really beautiful piece of engineering.
I guess some people just always have to moan something...
Hey, it´s pretty awesome that someone awesome as yourself is commenting my video! ;-) Thanks for your compliments and for subscribing.
Hey guys, thanks alot for all your compliments!
I'm a long boarder myself in CA and Ihave no idea how u don't fall off or lose balance! Did u have to practice a lot to be able to do that and what are those gloves used for? PLEASE REPLY
What in life is safe? Driving a car? Climbing a ladder? You can always ask for a safer ambience, but you can also try to adapt to the environment and do your best to eleminate risks. That´s what I´m doing. I also recognized Nodar Kumaritashvili´s accident right after it happened and believe me, it made me think, too. But that still did not keep me from bobtrack skating just as a car accident shown on TV doesn´t keep me from driving cars.
Ahh I missed the steep uphill part. That's sooo awesome man!
No, it´s not bumpy at all because the concrete in most of the tracks is smooth - except of the expansion joints which are up to 4 cm (!) wide. Well, I always thought being thrown out is impossible because of gravity, but Nodar Kumaritashvili´s lethal accident in the Winter Olympic Games 2010 proved that it could happen. And no, I´m not accidentally, but by purposely leaped into another dimension ;-)
Looks awesome Mr. Strasser
Yes, sure, I have been bailing a couple of times. But in most cases there happens just nothing because I am always well protected. My top speed is 80 kph (50 mph) btw...
AWESOME video and camera work .... BRAVO ...! Well done indeed...
Question, please ... if I may. What is the time difference between ah bobsled and skateboard in the race to the bottom.? And do you know if the luge is quicker than say 4 man bob sled team..and or the skateboard dude...? Thank you ....
I´m using a Magun speedboard with Magun speed trucks and (quiet old) LTM Abec 5 bearings.
Actually not a single bobtrack is open for skating, I had to work hard to get permission to enter some of them. Yes, there are bobtracks in america: Lake Placid, Park City, Calgary and Vancouver.
Good use of a bobsled track in the summer
They should hold competitions like for this
Gives you something more to when it’s not 50 below
This is really sick, I wish I had something like this near me. Nice Video as well.
Yes, absolutely.
I do. But for my understanding a longboard is a kind of a skateboard (just like a F1 car is a kind of a car).
I always start at a low level when entering a new track or even after a long break. Then I go up steo by step until I reach the top start line.
Yes, I sometimes do (but luckily very rarely and in most cases I don´t get hurt at all).
I know I do, thanks for the hint. But I need my feet crossways to keep the feelings for the turns.
It´s a bobsled race track in Altenberg, Germany.
i have always dreamed about doing this, unlike me you guys actually did it... kudos!!
Strange enough I never ever had any problems with speed whobbles, don´t know why. Sure, once a while I am crashing. If so, I mostly slide on my stomach. Mostly I slide out pretty quick, the longest mark my leather left was 21 meters long in the olympic bobtrack of Sarajevo (that was one of the really painful crashes). If you want to read what other skaters think about bobtrack skating please read Ben Malherbe´s article "Something Else in a Nutshell: A flashback to Beton on Fire" on "skateslate".
If you read the video description you will find his credit there.
I know (I´ve done that), but imagine skating a bobtrack... THAT´s a whole different experience! ;-)
We already had this discussion a 100 times: a longboard is a skateboard. But anyway, thanks for your respect!
You can go there with pretty much everything! But if they will let you go down with your bmx?
Well, if you ask the track responsibles it is. And I got the permission for every single run I ever made. Thanks for subscribing! ;-)
I'm riding a Magun Speedboard with Magun speed trucks. The Place is Altenberg, Germany.
Great, congratulations!
Thanks! Look at the music credit in the video, there it´s written! ;-)
I just bought an arbor longboard but its more of a midboard. Been riding a few weeks now, hopefully someday ill be as good as you :D
I just found this. Awesome! Why would this not surprise me though??
I know that´s hard to figure out. Thanks!
No, not at all, the wheels dry out immediately. You can even skate the bobtrack if it is a bit wet!
That´s a Magun speedboard (little custom company from Switzerland).
wow this is the coolest thing ive seen with a longboard in a long time XD
Danny...fantastic speed..you are crazy??? very cool...
It's a Magun speedboard (Swiss brand).
Hmm... looks interesting. If you want to send me one or two sets of your wheels I would try them in my next bobtrack session (in May)...
Actually my trucks are so tight that most of the skaters would feel unconfortable. Where is your hometown? If you skate that track please make sure that you have the permission to enter the track because we are just trying to establish bobtrack skating as a real sport. I just came back from the bobtrack in La Plagne, France, where we had the 2nd tour stop of the "Beton on Fire" race series and we´re looking for other bobsled tracks to join the tour next year...
Strange enough that everybody is talking about speed whobbles... I never had that there! The speed sensation is higher because of the narrowness of the track. I´m riding a Magun speedboard with Magun trucks.
Before this turns out to a never ending story: Actually I started longboarding in a bobsled track (before I was snakeboarding - uuh! I can already hear some people moaning about that!), there I made my very first run. Don't ask me why I started pushing mongo, it was just like that 14 years ago. Actually I cann't see any disadvantage of that with one exception: Footbraking is much harder being a mongo, maybe that´s why I don´t really know how to do it (anyway I don't brake at all in the track).
That is actually pretty damn cool!!! If I ever learn how to skateboard, I would do it so that I can do this!
okey,. here it comes
you guys are my motivation to go longboarding ,. thank you for this awesome video
and i have a question ehm,. what is this song called?
Why not? Don´t you like my timelapse-video "ballet of nature"? Btw, THIS video is not sped up - not a single second.
Yes, you're absolutely right.
Even if you are trying to defend my video (thanks for that) please do not insult other people for representing their opinion. Thank you very much.
Just follow the link to eMusic or iTunes on the right side under the video, there you can buy the song. Btw, the whole Redhanded-album "Closer" is great! ;-)
Thanks!
Very easy: the track ends in a steep uphill section.
It´s a Magun speedboard with Magun speed trucks.
Yes, I do once a while, but in most cases nothing serious happens then because I am well protected.
I´m riding a Magun speedboard with Magun trucks. Thanks!
Yes, it is.
Damn , is it open to the public and if so where ? That looks like a shit ton of fun :D
No, it´s 'just' 80. The speed sensation is way higher because everything is so tight in a bobsled track.
So, is anyone else more impressed with the camera man's speed control? Bravo unnamed camera guy. Bravo
Read the description
5 min from Altenberg? So cu on June 2/3 at "Beton on Fire"!
props to the camera man going just as fast as the skater while holding a camera steady
OH thats what it looked like but I wasn't sure, Thats really cool that they let you do that