Families celebrate Olympics at backyard sled track

Associated Press
In a Friday Feb. 14, 2014 photo people enjoy the sled track that the the Baker and Hines family built on a backyard hill in Mason, Mich. The course has a rendering of the Olympic rings. (AP Photo/WILX-TV, Amanda Malkowski)

MASON, Mich. (AP) — Two Michigan families are celebrating the Olympics with a massive sled track they built into a backyard hill.

WILX-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1fvnqSn ) the Baker and Hines families came up with the idea for a luge track in Mason, located southeast of Lansing.

The course is about 200 feet long and includes a tunnel and a rendering of the Olympic rings. Doug Hines says they used two tractors with front-end loaders to create the course. He says it took about three days to build and a few hours to cover with ice.

His wife, Amy Hines, says "it's a memory maker" for the kids.

Family members and guests use sleds to speed down the curving course. Thad Baker says daily maintenance is done to ensure safety.

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Information from: WILX-TV, http://www.wilx.com or www.wilxtv.com