If there’s one thing the Swiss do right, it’s sledding. OK, they actually do several things right (melted cheese, dark chocolate, public transportation, yodeling…), but sledding is one of the most fun. It’s a completely different activity here than the sledding I grew up with in the US, which consisted of trudging up a small hill dragging a plastic disc and then flying down said hill on said disk, landing in an uncomfortably cold pile of icy snow only to brush off and trudge back up the hill.
In this country, sledding (or sledging, as they seem to think it is called in English) is much longer on the downhill, and much less strenuous on the uphill. A more satisfying experience all around. Here’s how it usually works:
(1) You spend around CHF 10 on renting a quaintly old-fashioned-looking wooden sled (or sledge, if you speak that wonky British version of this language);
(2) You get into a big ski gondola or other mass-uphill-transit device and ride to the top of an Alp;
(3) You get on your sled(ge) and ride it down said Alp along a narrow groomed path, dragging your feet and leaning your body to and fro in vain attempts to control the trajectory of your vehicle;
(4) Assuming you managed to make it to the bottom without losing consciousness or a limb, repeat steps 2-3 until it’s time to start the apres-ski (apres-sled?) part of the day.
You’ve never seen grown-ups laugh, shriek, and tumble around as much as our merry band of responsible adults did during our last couple days in the Bernese Oberland. Even though we had gone sledding in Switzerland a couple times before, we weren’t prepared for the steep icy bits we encountered on the first day in Grindelwald. Luckily there were a couple of old Swiss ladies walking nearby who instructed us on the proper method of breaking on such hills (grab the front of the sled and pull up, while gritting teeth and trying not to pee pants).
The lower parts of the runs were closed (due to inadequate snow), but we still got to sled for over an hour at a time, down 10-15 kilometer trails. We came home a little banged up and bruised here and there (who knew that sled runs had moguls?), but at least we got to have some good old-fashioned winter fun in the Alps.
That was one of my favorite things to do there in the winter – who needs to ski when you can sled? I’m glad you got to try it. Sorry about the lack of snow.
I can’t believe that I’ve never been sledding in my seven winters in Swtizerland. It is something I MUST do…soon!
Sounds like a fun time and a good way to enjoy the cold weather.
Thanks for this post — now I have hard evidence to show my husband to prove that there are sufficient sled/sledg/toboggann/ing opportunities. He’s been a naysayer given the general lack of snow, even though I’ve been showing him the open-runs reports.
Jul! You are so right on that sledding is so much fun! I used to do this in les avants near Montreux. I had the time of my life and since it was my first time on the wooden sled it was unbelievable…
I don’t have many pics of me, but I’ve got many of 2 year olds having the time of their lives…
Z – naturally it would be even more fun if the snow was better, but luckily sledding doesn’t suffer as much as skiing does in the lack of snow. Just find a run that’s at high enough altitude, and enjoy!
They should do this everywhere – make it mandatory!! I tried it in Austria and it was too much fun!! One of my favourite things.
I was about to complain about you knocking British English.
However, you just advanced my vocabulary by ‘Mogul’ and took the wind out of my sails!
At least now I know what dislocated my hip the last time I went sledging!