The winter sports of luge and bobsledding have a lot in common. Both are featured prominently in the winter Olympics. Both are extremely dangerous for the participants. Both consist of plummeting feet first down the same slippery track at top speeds. Both sports require nerves of steel and reflexes of lightning. However, there are a lot of subtle difference between these two sports that test the limits of how humans relate to gravity.
Bobsledders work in groups of up to four people, whereas luge racers either go solo or work in teams of two. Lugers face the elements head on, whereas bobsledders enjoy some protection with their equipment.
A bobsled is shaped sort of like a canoe with an extended opening. Although the riders are most exposed to the elements, the low front and sides of a bobsled offer the athletes some level of defense from both the force of the wind when they race and from the possibility of serious injury if they crash. The bobsled itself is designed to absorb at least some of the impact of a collision, offering the racers a modicum of protection.
By contrast, a luge is a small piece of equipment roughly the size of a couple of...