Piste de Bobsleigh de La Plagne
Purpose-built for the Games, the track hosted the bobsleigh and luge competitions and remains the only one of its kind in France. It was also the venue for the skeleton events at the 1993 IBSF World Championships. Renovated in 2006, it is now the training centre for the French bobsleigh team and in 2020 hosted the IBSF Bobsleigh World Cup meeting.
The track is also open to the public, as initially planned when it was built. Visitors can, for example, try the bob raft – a self-guided, self-braking machine – the speed luge and bob racing.
The track was built close to an abandoned mining site. Though its construction caused deterioration of the forest cover in the immediate area, it was followed by the planting of saplings, which compensated for this to some extent. It also helped the restoration of the countryside around the disused mine, allowing the track to blend in better with its surroundings.
The facility was the subject of some controversy on its construction, due to the use of ammonia in its cooling system and the fact it was built on unstable ground. There were fears that the ground would move and cause the system to leak, creating a public health hazard. When such an event occurred in 2003, causing the cancellation of World Cup and European Championship events at the track, the facility became the first in the world to move from ammonia to glycol refrigeration piping.
Employing 15-20 permanent and seasonal workers, the track is visited by approximately 14,000 people a year and is seen as a key part of the La Plagne’s overall appeal.
Although revenues from visitors and sports activities have been growing every year since the Olympic Winter Games, the track still depends on public funding to balance its budget.