Bobsledding: The Deadly Zig-Zag

There is obviously no such thing as a safe bobsled run, but there are varying degrees of danger. Nobody has ever been killed on Austria's Igls run, and it was a shock around the famed Ronco course at Cortina, Italy, when Germany's Anton Pensberger crashed to his death during last month's world championships. But the Mount Van Hoevenberg run at Lake Placid, N.Y., is another story. With its 16 low-banked curves, abnormally wide straightaways (which leave all the more room for error) and extra-high speeds (up to 90 m.p.h.), it has long enjoyed a sinister reputation as the world's...