ESCANABA — Keith Whitman is taking a trip during the holidays — a long luge-centered trip to Italy and Austria.

Whitman, an Escanaba resident since 1999, is coaching the U.S. Luge Naturbahn team that departs for Europe Monday and returns Jan. 16. He will spread good cheer on behalf of the United States and his homeland.

“I like to think I am an ambassador from the Upper Peninsula,” said Whitman, who is a L’Anse native and vice president of the U.P. Luge Association. “I am from Escanaba now. I am proud to be from Escanaba. The people here have been very kind to me.”

Whitman will coach two U.P. lugers on this trip — 17-year-old Tristen Vidlund from Negaunee and 13-year-old Torrey Cookman of Marquette. They will leave Marquette on Christmas day and fly to Munich, Germany. Competitions are scheduled in Austria and Italy.

“Keith has been involved with the sport for many years,” said Fred Anderson, who is president of the U.P. Luge Association. “He has been working with the luge the last couple of years. His work with the youth has been excellent and his background with luge made it a win-win situation to coach this team in Europe.”

Indeed, luge and Whitman are no strangers.

He’s been involved in the U.S. luge program for many years as an athlete and administrator. Whitman is a former national team member, national champion and national coach who competed throughout Europe in the 1980s, including the World Cup in Switzerland and World Championship in Austria.

What sparked Whitman’s interest in luge? It came from an encounter about 40 years ago in Marquette while running in the woods.

“There was a guy out working and I asked what he was building,” Whitman said. “He said, ‘A luge track.’ I said, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘Come out and try it.’ I went out that winter and tried it. I did it in Marquette and went to Lake Placid (N.Y.) and tried it there.”

And the rest is history for the luge and Whitman.

Vidlund and Cookman are competing in Naturbahn luge, which is a natural track winding down a natural unrefrigerated hill. It differs from the model used in the Winter Olympics (Kunstbahn), which is an artificial track using ice-glazed tubes.

There has been a push over the years to have the Winter Olympics incorporate Naturbahn luge, which is less costly than constructing an artificial track. Anderson and Whitman said a vote will be taken after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. If the vote passes, Naturbahn luge will make its debut in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.

A vote passage should have a ripple effect on U.P. luge, which is home to the country’s only natural luge track built at Negaunee’s Lucy Hill.

“We’ve been doing natural luge since ’85 and we’re the only track in the country,” Anderson said. “This is where the athletes will be coming from because this is where the athletes are training.

“We have been sending some athletes to Europe. The Federal International Luge Association came to the United States federation and said, ‘We want U.S. sliders. They have seen Tristen slide before. We had a coach from Austria see Torrey Cookman slide. Even though he is young, he is a very up and coming slider. They are excited to see the United States be an important part of the program.

“We have been hoping for this form for many years. People have been sliding down mountain roads for hundreds of years. It has not been in the Olympics yet, but it will be a chance to showcase our style of luge to the world.”

Whitman agrees Negaunee could be a major player in shaping future U.S. Olympic luge teams.

“I told the people in Negaunee, should it go into the Olympics, everything in this sport will be in Negaunee, Michigan,” he said. “You have everything – the coaching staff, the talent, the experience, the track and the equipment, it is all here.”

Whitman, Vidlund and Cookman have their bags and equipment packed and sports visas in order. They will see how they stack up in competition while in Europe during their trip, which is financed by the FIL.

“I look forward to representing this country again,” Whitman said.

They also will lead the parade in the Heikki Lunta Festival in Negaunee after they return home, Whitman added.