Out there: Whistler Sliding Centre

Millions of people cheered on world champs as they hurtled down the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre during the 2010 Olympics – and this month, you can get a taste of that same ice- and gravity-fuelled exhilaration.

You won't start from the top – thank goodness – but at the new Skeleton Slide Experience, you'll get a complete orientation (helmet fitting, sled training, safety tips and a mock run), then reach speeds of up to 100 kilometres an hour as you hurtle head-first down the bottom third of the track.

Rather leave the steering to the pros? Starting next week, you can ride a four-man piloted bobsleigh and almost keep up with Santa as you reach speeds in excess of 125 kilometres per hour.

The two-hour Skeleton Slide Experience begins this weekend; the Bobsleigh Experience starts Dec. 22 (whistlerslidingcentre.com).