Street luge, as the name suggests, is a sort of road-going version of traditional ice luge minus the bobbly hat.

It appeared on the extreme sport scene back in the early 70s when, as the legend goes, a Californian maverick fed up with merely standing on his skateboard decided to tackle the 1 in 4s lying down on it instead.

The extreme sport of street luging was born.

But its transition from renegade thrill for young crazy guys with a death wish to alternative sport status hasn't been easy.

The first ever street luging event in the late 70s, for instance, had to be stopped when both competitors and spectators got injured.

Since than massive coverage on both ESPN's X-games and NBC's Gravity Games has guaranteed it cult status and graduation to the elite band of extreme sports.

Street Luging in Wiltshire

But you don't have to go state side to luge.

In Wiltshire a half mile stretch of track at Gurston Down is, according to Ding Boston the SSSprint organiser, the perfect course to get started.

Despite a hair raising drop of 35 feet in just 200 yards and two hairpins back to back:

"On Gurston Down we don't reach any speeds greater than 50mph which makes it a very good course for beginners to learn."

But with speeds of 50mph feeling more like 150 one inch off the ground and with no suspension it's fast enough.

Being low to the ground, though, has its advantages:

"On a motor bike you've got to drop two or three feet and often go several hundred feet along before you have contact with the road," says Ding.

"When you're already there and you slide off in street luging you find, extraordinarily enough, that you're completely unscathed."

And with a motorcycle helmet and full bikers leathers to dampen the impact after chucking a bale or wiping out it's a surprisingly safe sport.

The luge itself is something like a really long skate board with a belly pan. Albeit a skateboard designed to clock speeds as high as 80mph.

The luger lies flat on his back, feet first, pointing downhill. Looking over his toes he tackles the bumps, bends and highsides by shifting his weight from side to side.

And the faster you go the easier it is to manoeuvre. But if speed is not your friend you'll still get enough close thrilling action at just 25mph.

But the most unique feature about the sport has to be the breaking system.

You've got two brakes your left foot and your right foot:

"You literally put your feet down into the tarmac," says Ding. "You're wearing ex-army boots and they have very hefty rubber soles and they work amazingly well.

"While boots on your feet appears to be the most primitive way to control yourself you can out break a sports car on a street luge."

In fact it works remarkably well. But with the amount of rubber you burn whacking a hunk of car tyre to the bottom of your booties is the norm.

Practice Hills

1 of 6 - Ding Boston, far right, with lugers at Gurston 2 of 6 - Leaning into a bend 3 of 6 - Tackling the ominous second hairpin 4 of 6 - You've got two brakes your left and right foot. 5 of 6 - Taking corner two at Gurston. 6 of 6 - Bollards are put out to teach people how to turn. Gurston Down, just outside Salisbury, is one of the best tracks in the country and as a result massively in demand. With an annual pheasant shoot taking up four months of the year and Hill Climbing Championships jostling for track time it leaves little room for street luging action. Scouting for practice hills across the county has become a full-time quest for Ding: "It is terribly difficult to find a hill which is private and which has a good surface. "With no suspension and wheels that are a mere 10cms in diameter very smooth tarmac is essential." So the hunt is on for anything with street luge potential. And everything from private driveways, lanes and tracks to businesses (dumps, power plants, schools etc.) which are closed at the weekend are fair game. If you've got any suggestions we want to hear from you. In the mean time if you want to have a go, at one of the most exciting adrenaline rushes around, you only have until the end of September... ...after that the pheasants take over. SSPRINT - Street Sled Sports Racers International Next Meeting: Sunday 19th September 2004 Gurston Down 9:30 am - 4.30 pm Please note that places are always limited for racers and Taster Day slots and MUST be booked in advance. Contact Details: e-mail for further details. Or Subscribe to SSSprint email group for event updates.