Way way back when I was a kid, you know, the dark ages or so, we did a bit of sledding. We had a classic wooden toboggan that we rarely used because the thing weighed a ton and it was hard to find a hill big enough to make it worth the trouble. Of course we also had metal snow saucers and er, that's all I remember except for the Gordo's trays we stole from the cafeteria in college so we could sled down Bascom Hill.
Now that Sam is of sledding age, I'm rediscovering the joys (and bruises) of sledding and oh my! There are now some wonderful new sleds that are way better than the plastic sled we've got. First off, there are the foam sleds with the nice slick bottoms such as this one from LL Bean.
The foam takes out a lot of the bumps and it's a blast to aim the thing down the hill and ride a belly flop to the bottom. And the handles actually work! Sam loves this style of sled and yesterday, he used the a foam saucer that got the thumbs up. I have to admit that one of the other things I really love about these things is that they're so light even Sam can cart them up the hill. I'm keeping my eyes out for one of these because they don't seem to be in the stores in this area, maybe because everything sold out after the snowstore.
The other new (old) style sled are inflatable tubes. When we were kids we sometimes had old black innertubes that rubbed off on our clothes but these are definitely better. Handles! Handles make all the difference in the world. And now that my back is a lot older I really appreciate that it makes sledding into a lower impact activity.
These fly and you spend half the trip going backwards which is frightening and exhilarating at the same time, especially when you're on a very busy sledding hill with lots of potential for taking other people out. Again, we don't have one since they're sold out but neighbors have these as well and of course they're happy to share.
There are all sorts of high tech steerable sleds out there as well but I'm guessing that even with the new technology out there, the sled Ben made as a kid, a standard wooden sled with cross country skis on the bottom will win the speed record.
As I watched Sam whirl, swirl, and fly down the hill I realized that what I really should have brought with us, along with hot chocolate and a camera, is one of these:
1 comment:
Sounds fun!
Dicky went sledding last winter. He had fun, but he accidentally went over a little "jump", became airborne (like a pathogen!), and came down in a manner that caused some nasty neck pain.
Of course he had the inner tube with no steering capability whatsoever.
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