Backyard luge promises cool runnings

NORTH BAY — It’s 300 feet long, and takes 33 seconds to complete.

Sounds like an Olympic-sized track, but its actually the Kenwood Hills Luge located at the north end of North Bay on Airport Hill.

For 15 years, the neighbourhood has come together to create the frozen ribbon of fun that snakes its way through five backyards.

Amedeo Bernardi is one of the founders of the luge track.

“We were out playing one day on New Years with the kids, and wanted to get the kids out to play. It’s a natural slope, so we started sliding down, sliding down, and eventually sliding into the neighbour's yard. Then neighbours at the time, the Roberts, came out, and we just kept expanding it, and it just became a wonderful hobby for all dads, all the way down the row here,” said Bernardi on Sunday night.

Sam Renelli has been working on the luge track with his neighbours since 2010. He estimates the five neighbourhood dads put in more than 160 hours of work to build and maintain the track every winter.

“It requires a strong back, but it’s a lot of fun, it gets us out. It takes us a while when we first start,” said Renelli.

“It takes a little bit of time to first cut it out, but it is just great fun. And what’s fun after building it is, you can hear all the kids screaming and having a lot of fun going down it, so its great.”

Sam’s daughter, Paris, can’t get enough of it.

“My friends think it’s pretty neat because not everyone has this in their back yard, so when I invite my friends to the luge party they think it’s a pretty neat event. They all want to go down on a train going down the luge, so it’s pretty fun,” she said.

While the luge track takes a lot of time and effort to maintain every winter, the neighbourhood wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It just brings the whole neighbourhood together,” said Renelli.

Check out the point of view video going down half the circuit courtesy Lindsay Sarazin.