I went sledding today for the first time in several years. We went to Edgewater and discovered that a plethora of earlier tobogganeers had packed the entire hillside into a perfect sledding slope. Anne had gotten her childhood sled from her parents place and she and Liam had picked up a cheapy plastic one from the store. The quality difference was obvious, the old wooden one had the foot tiller and metal runners and the plastic one looked like something you would baste an entire pig in. they both rocked going down the slopes.
to be a braggart, i must say that i was the best sledder there in regard to sled control and distance. although i was forced to eject several times do to a bad vector or unexpected turbulence, most of my missions were a success. Hauling my ass up the hill afterward was tedious though, since it was probably around 130 yards from where i usually ended up. it was a good workout, though right now i would like to do something to get me warm and thawed out. a cup of Earl Grey will have to do.
i totally agree with you on the tube. i had one myself when i was back in indiana. here is cleveland they are harder to find.
*Farmboy alert*
I still find the best sled is an old inflated tractor tire intertube. Basically you sit inside the tube and then straghten out your legs to form a sort of wedge out of the tube. For the most part the tube will protect you from bolders and whatnot and you can really get some velocity with those things. The only drawback is that they are fairly heavy (25lbs) however if there is little wind they aren’t that hard to roll back up the hill. Too bad the snow never spread evenly out on the plains the stupid wind would leave drifts with bare patches in between. Anyway, sounds like a lot of fun.