The public is invited to sign up for some sliding-related action on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings at the Utah Olympic Park, just off Interstate 80 in Kimball Junction.
And if you need any prodding, chat with automotive shop teacher Tom Raty. His passion for sliding started about the time his students at South Salt Lake's Granite High School built the bobsled then Gov. Mike Leavitt drove in the 1999 Governor's Cup race.
Raty, often known by his last name, pronounced "Rate-ee," is convinced that world-class winter sports can be made available to just about anyone.
It was Raty, after all, who had supervised Granite District students as they refurbished the bobsled for the Virgin Islands team during the 2002 Olympics. And that landed Raty a spot in the Opening Ceremony in Salt Lake City as the Virgin Islands' official bobsled technician.
Raty's work in getting people involved in skeleton and bobsled brought him the distinction of Utah Winter Games Volunteer of the Year. Now he's become the executive director of the Utah Skeleton and Bobsled Association.
Whether you're an athlete with aspirations of making the U.S. Olympic team, a speed junkie, an aging Baby Boomer needing to shed a few pounds or simply a volunteer, Raty will find you a place. He's also helping train disabled athletes for demonstration runs or perhaps Paralympic Winter Games.
"People can come to the Olympic Park to have fun and or to be serious, it depends on your focus," said Raty. "Our job is to develop athletes as well as recreational sliders."
Bobsled training sessions are with World Cup driver Stephan Bosch and Pat Brown, coach for the first Jamaican bobsled team that was featured in the movie "Cool Runnings." Track coach Steve Revelli is the skeleton trainer.
"Several athletes from Utah are on the national team right now," said Revelli, who is Western director for the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
Ranked No. 1 in the world in skeleton is Zach Lund, of Salt Lake City, and No. 2 is Shauna Roebuck, of Provo.
"We have capability of taking ordinary people, teaching them the sport and having them compete right next to an Olympian," he said. "My only advice is if you love roller coasters and speed, this is a sport for you."
So come, even to watch - but careful. Revelli or Raty may talk you into a slide of your own.
You're invited
to sign up
* What: Skeleton and bobsled
* Where: Utah Olympic Park
* When: Weather permitting:
Training, Fridays 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Races, Saturdays, 9 am. to noon.
* Cost: Annual membership $75
Skeleton run $10
Two-person bobsled $20
* Call 435-658-4208 or visit www.UtahIce.org.
