The 21 schoolchildren, aged 9 to 17, and one 43-year-old man, are taking part in the first ice luge training camp at the facility, being run by an Austrian coach.
International Luge Federation coach Karl Flacher, aged in his 60s, is a former Austrian luge champion and has coached Austrian and German teams in European and international competition.
Yesterday, he stood in the 360m-long luge at Naseby giving instructions to trainees as they sped past on purpose-built sleds.
Camp participant Matheson Hill (13), of Dunedin, said the hardest aspect of luging was remembering technical instructions.
"Going around corners is hard. There is a lot to remember about how to make the sled turn," he said.
The wooden luge course, which has 10 corners built into it, snakes down a pine-covered slope behind the Maniototo International Curling Rink and Maniototo Ice Rink.
Due to warmer-than-anticipated weather, only the top 180m of the luge is being used for the camp this week, although organisers hope man-made snow will extend the track before the its official opening on Saturday.
New Zealand Olympic Luge Association president Geoff Balme said the four girls, 17 boys, and one man enrolled in the camp had come from Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, Queenstown and the Maniototo.
Luge training runs from 9am to 4pm daily and culminates in races on Saturday.
Mr Balme said Naseby was on track to become the ice capital of NZ and has plans to establish an annual ice festival during winter to showcase snow sport activities available in the town.
