Winter is a-comin'! Sledding time!

limpport · Post by **limpport** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:46 pm

Alas, winter is almost apon us, and it's time to search basements, closets, attics, and any other handy storage places for sleds.

I'm basicly trying to say is: Does anyone like snow (and things you can do with it)?

HomicidalBarber · Post by **HomicidalBarber** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:53 pm

It already snowed and melted where I am, and I went sledding. I also snow board

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:01 pm

It still hasn't gotten below freezing where I live. But when it does, I have a nice big sledding hill. I like snow.

Post by **bicostp** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:35 pm

A couple days ago it was 67 degrees Fahrenheit here. Now it's 44. Ah, New England fall / winter...

I don't like snow too much anymore. It just gets in the way.

But I still know how to make a fun sled for practically nothing!

Materials needed:

- 1 large pizza box. (I recommend Domino's Pizza boxes because the areas in the front act as handles)
- Duct tape. (Get smooth duct tape for best results. I haven't tried Gorilla Tape.)
- Old magazines

1. Make sure you get all the cheese out of the box. You can leave grease spots in there.
2. Put the magazines inside and close the box. This adds strength and some padding.
3. Seal the exposed edges of the cardboard with tape. (the edges where you can see the wavy paper inside)
4. Wrap the tape around the sides, so the top and bottom are tapeless.
5. Wrap tape around the sled from front to back. DON'T leave a tape flap on the riding surface! (The part that goes on the snow.) It's OK if you start and stop the strip on the seat part. A couple layers should do it.
6. Tape any remaining gaps. Just make sure that all the surfaces taht ride on the snow are smooth.
7. Sled! Sit on the box and hold onto and pull up on the front. (If you used a Domino's box like I told you to, you can use the spaces in front as handles, as long as you reinforced them.)

Come up with your own variations! Make a better handle with rope! Use a bigger box from U-Haul!

It's surprising how durable these things are when you completely seal them wiht tape. My first one has been in use for a couple years now and it's still holding up well! This design works great on medium to hard packed snow. Like any other sled, it's pretty sucky on fresh powder. I wouldn't go using it on ice. (That's what those old runner sleds are for.)

Come to think of it, you could improve a bunch of sleds with duct tape. Tape the runners on those old heavy ones? (They kick butt on ice and hard packed snow) Pretty much the only ones you don't want to tape are saucer sleds. As long as you have a smooth continuous piece of tape running from front to back, and it starts above where the snow hits, tape should make you go faster.

I am not responsible if you hurt yourself following these instructions or your new kickbutt duct tape sled.

dman762000 · Post by **dman762000** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:43 pm

I love snow, too bad there is none in Arkansas where I live. All we get is fresh slush falling from the sky every year that packs up and freezes on the roads making driving baaaaad. The one thing that is fun is if we get about two weeks worth of below freezing temps all the bar-pits freeze over at the river. I get out my snowboard and my buddy gets out his 4-wheeler and we go slalom skiing on the ice.(he tows me and I ride the board) You can get up some really incredible speeds if you cut out real far and slingshot.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:46 pm

Bic, Do you crumple the magazines, or have just a couple big stacks inside? I think I have some foam squares that would work nice instead. I need to get a Dominos pizza box.

I like sledding, as long as I have a good saucer sled or tube with handles. Snowmobiling is fun too, and you don't need good hills either (does cost more, though)

.

limpport · Post by **limpport** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:53 pm

I ski a lot, and finally got onto my schools ski team. I'm glad the ski area lets me go on the lift with my Mad River Rocket. The company started right in Vermont. I like about 15 minutes from there place, so I know them pretty well. The sleds are a little expensive, but defiantly worth it.

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:31 pm

Winter is veeerrrry long where I live. For that reason, the snow is great for a while but then around March (when there's still snow, lasts until about mid-April) it just becomes boring. Anyways, it's already snowed here, but melted. Hopefully it'll snow again soon, I love snowball fights!

I think I'm going to have to try bic's sled idea as well.

Post by **Triton** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:27 pm

snowtubing is awesome! at this one ski place around here they have a downhill tubing area and after a few hours its hard packed and frozen and you go REALLY fast, the tubes have plastic bottoms and wow you get bookin

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:58 pm

limpport wrote:I ski a lot, and finally got onto my schools ski team. I'm glad the ski area lets me go on the lift with my Mad River Rocket. The company started right in Vermont. I like about 15 minutes from there place, so I know them pretty well. The sleds are a little expensive, but defiantly worth it.

Those sleds look cool. I haven't even tried snowboarding or skiing because I can't even stay up on a skateboard. Maybe I could get one of these. How does the strap double as a sling?

gamer2 · Post by **gamer2** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:51 pm

I love Snow, I love it so much I could marry it but the sad thing is it would be a cold relationship.

Thanks to Hillsdale county weather, it snows one day and is 70 the next.

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:45 pm

heh, I had an idea recently...

around here, it's common for sidewalks to have a coating of tightly packed snow a few inches tall. This snow happens to be perfect for sledding, it's just not on hills for the most part. What I'd like to do is take a bunch of bunji cords and make some kind of a slingshot... that would be fun

gamer2 · Post by **gamer2** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:00 am

Find a large hill and a can of that stuff Chevy Chase uses on his sled on National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Extreme_Jesus · Post by **Extreme_Jesus** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:13 am

I love snow, too bad im on an island so it never quite gets cold enough

It regularly drops below freezing but it never snows cos to get that cold it needs ot be a clear day so no snow

Snowboarding and skiing is fun though, been doing that since i was little, too bad i have to leave the country to do it

Two of my friends are going snowboarding over Christmas

benol · Post by **benol** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:35 am

Sledding? no, not here in Georgia. Coat time, mabye, but not sledding time. We're lucky if we get 1 inch of snow, and that is enough to close school for a week!