Extreme sledding

November 19, 2006 7:04 AM

Freesledding looks a lot easier than snowboarding. Some short video clips:

• Finding a line through the woods
• Obligatory big air shot
• Mastering the face plant

posted by mecran01 (39 comments total)

Your links bit it hard.
posted by Science! at 7:12 AM on November 19, 2006

http://www.madriverrocket.com/VIDS/Woods.html


http://www.catpawresort.homestead.com/files/02_03movies/180biggapweb.mpg

http://www.catpawresort.homestead.com/files/02_03movies/supermistycrash.mpg
posted by mecran01 at 7:20 AM on November 19, 2006

The tree dodging looks like fun, but the big air looks like it would be way hard on the knees.
posted by craven_morhead at 7:48 AM on November 19, 2006

Poseurs. There is only one and true Master^.
posted by cenoxo at 7:56 AM on November 19, 2006

Administrator Hope Him!

Props for the face plant video. All outdoor sports on hills need to show the face plant. Well, maybe not rock climbing.
posted by eriko at 8:04 AM on November 19, 2006

I can't figure out what's wrong in the original html. I think it's because I was lazy and didn't close my list item tags. Darn web 2.0.

Yeah, I think cutting through the trees like that would be a ton of fun, and much easier than snowboarding or skiing. I have no connection to the company that makes these, I was just looking for knee-friendly alternatives to skiing and came across it. The sleds have three inches of foam in them, and a strap to hold your knees in.
posted by mecran01 at 8:25 AM on November 19, 2006

Dude, I had a kneeling sled that looked exactly like a mad river rocket(tm) 15 years ago. The thin ridges underneath made it slow as shit. I was kicking myself for not buying a GT snowracer like every other kid with sense.
posted by Popular Ethics at 8:47 AM on November 19, 2006

Wow, a Homestead site with huge pics and video. I feel sorry for that resort's bandwidth, as it's been gaining the attention of a few 'boarding forums already.

Anyhoo, here's Slate's comparison of various sleds from earlier this year; the Killer B may be fun, but there's appearently better stuff available for less.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:51 AM on November 19, 2006

a Homestead site with huge pics and video.

I was looking ( on broadband ) at the slow cascade of the first page image and saying "You have got to be kidding me."
posted by RubberHen at 9:01 AM on November 19, 2006

My brother and I used to drive to the top of the mountain and just drop in - on plastic sleds. It was steep and the snow was deep. We had a blast - it was a great way to wind down after a day of skiing the powder all day.
posted by tomplus2 at 9:07 AM on November 19, 2006

That doesn't look easier than snowboarding. How do you stop?
posted by braksandwich at 9:14 AM on November 19, 2006

Despite the editing, it looks like the sleds lose momentum pretty quickly. It also looks like a fine way to ruin your knees.
posted by lekvar at 9:24 AM on November 19, 2006

braksandwich: You probably just huck it sideways to stop.

This thing would be great for taking out the legs of skiiers. (I kid, I kid.)

I dunno, I'm sure the sled is easier to learn, although snowboarding isn't that hard... But if you get on too steep a surface with a snowboard (or are just starting out), you can just turn the board sideways and grind down at your own pace. I think you'd be screwed on the sled.

Plus I can see a lot of hiking with that thing...
posted by LordSludge at 9:27 AM on November 19, 2006

the freesledding through the trees looks dangerous as hell.
posted by jayder at 9:49 AM on November 19, 2006

Looks like it'd be ideal combined with snowshoeing.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:39 AM on November 19, 2006

Let's have an early eulogy for the guy who becomes the king of freesledding.

.
posted by dhartung at 10:47 AM on November 19, 2006

I don't care what you do to a snowboard, it still looks stupider than a pair of skis.
Just kidding, i do both, but seriously; these things just remind me of something you might see at the special olympics.
posted by wumpus at 11:02 AM on November 19, 2006

It also looks like a fine way to ruin your knees.

Or your hips or back or anything else trunk-related. If you can't use your legs to absorb shocks, isn't everything going straight to your torso?
posted by weston at 11:14 AM on November 19, 2006

Anyhoo, here's Slate's comparison of various sleds

How can they not include the Flexible Flyer in there somewhere? Even if it's only as a benchmark, ya gotta include the classic.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:24 AM on November 19, 2006

In other news, boogieboarding is easier than surfing.
posted by dontoine at 11:46 AM on November 19, 2006

It also looks like a fine way to ruin your knees.

Or your hips or back or anything else trunk-related. If you can't use your legs to absorb shocks, isn't everything going straight to your torso?

Exactly! That's why one should be lying on one's belly or back. Real men sled with their face mere millimeters above the ice and rocks.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:02 PM on November 19, 2006

Real men sled with their face mere millimeters above the ice and rocks.
You, sir, are a kindred spirit. Allow me to buy you a beverage of your choice and a bottle of peroxide for your chin. Then we'll go out in the $5 plastic toboggans from 20 years ago and raise hell.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 12:49 PM on November 19, 2006

For real men with the right stuff, maybe it's one step closer towards landing on the Earth (sans parachute.) Paging Loïc Jean Albert (of Soul Flyers) and Jeb Corliss...
posted by cenoxo at 12:50 PM on November 19, 2006

I ALWAYS carry a plastic Krazy Karpet in my backpack when I go snow shoeing, it makes long meadow descents so much easier. Course, the fun part is with snowshoes strapped to the backpack, the only way to go down is head first on your belly....
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 1:00 PM on November 19, 2006

Plastic toboggans? Hell, no, I want my Red Rail Runner, or whatever it was called, with the steerable metal rails, racing down steep ice.

Most. Fun. Ever.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:48 PM on November 19, 2006

Nice porn music on the first link.

I don't have much experience with skiing & snowboarding, but this looks more dangerous in a tree collision. I keep imagining the front of the sled hitting the tree, the rider and back of the sled pitching up and forward, causing the head/neck to hit the trunk first.
posted by D.C. at 3:37 PM on November 19, 2006

yeah i'm definitely getting old. my only reaction to this is picturing young people with spinal cord injuries.
posted by facetious at 3:46 PM on November 19, 2006

The best (most fun) way to go down a snowy/icy hill is on a suacer, spinning. No need to steer, to stop, just fall over. Of course, this is for some value of 'hill' which probably best fits the Nederlands (LOL).
posted by Goofyy at 8:16 PM on November 19, 2006

I dunno. I managed to knock myself unconscious on The Hill in Saskatoon one winter.

The Hill is, in fact, the only hill in town.

The town built it.

I find prairie people to be a little odd.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:35 PM on November 19, 2006

Plastic toboggans? Hell, no, I want my Red Rail Runner, or whatever it was called, with the steerable metal rails

Those things were a menace. But my family had a small fleet of old-school wooden toboggans that were mightily feared on the slopes.

If you're not there to wipe standers off the hill, why are you there?

The Hill is, in fact, the only hill in town.

The town built it.

Winnipeg has one of those. Landfill...

I find prairie people to be a little odd.

...and our hanggliding club did ground and low aerial work off of it.
posted by dreamsign at 12:05 AM on November 20, 2006

Instead of the cheesy porn music that first video needs audio of a boy and his tiger friend discussing some deep philosophical issue.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:22 AM on November 20, 2006

At first I was put off by all of the whining and carping in this thread (oh, if I had a dollar for every time I could say that) but realistically, the sled does look like it slows down quickly, and the Slate link described it as squirrelly. The Wham-O snowboogie sled in that same article looks excellent, and will fit every member of my family. Cool!
posted by mecran01 at 7:35 AM on November 20, 2006

Here's another candidate for coolest sled ever:

http://www.snowsleds.net/hammerheadabout.html

Although the name "hammerhead" for a head-first sled doesn't inspire confidence.
posted by mecran01 at 7:46 AM on November 20, 2006

The Snowmoto also looks very promising. (youtube)
posted by mecran01 at 8:07 AM on November 20, 2006

I have a gen-1 Whammo sled. It is, in fact, the very antithesis of what one might consider to be a "sled." High-traction grit would slide better than the 1G Whammo.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:31 AM on November 20, 2006

Are you talking about the newest Wham-o version of the flexible flyer? i.e. does it look like this:

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/sportsunlimited_1924_997477676


The Airboard ($300!!!!) looks great too.
posted by mecran01 at 12:28 PM on November 20, 2006

I don't know the model. It was thin foam with a hard plastic bottom surface. Didn't slide worth a damn.

Tractor tire tubes sprayed with silicone can be wicked fun...
posted by five fresh fish at 4:36 PM on November 20, 2006

Snowboarding is basically toboganning while standing anyway. That's why most boarders don't have control for crap.
posted by HTuttle at 8:24 PM on November 20, 2006

I dunno, I'm sure the sled is easier to learn, although snowboarding isn't that hard... But if you get on too steep a surface with a snowboard (or are just starting out), you can just turn the board sideways and grind down at your own pace.

Watching boarding since it began, that's as proficient as 99% of boarders EVER get. The problem with having an easy way down a hill is that the majority never bother to improve.
posted by HTuttle at 8:29 PM on November 20, 2006