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Simple Pleasures

By Susan Oloier

It is a crisp winter day. A coat of freshly fallen snow drapes the surrounding peaks and hills. A breeze pulls a dusting of snow from the tops of the ponderosa pines and sends the flakes billowing through the air. The sky is a clear blue with no clouds to be seen. In the distance, the peal of children's laughter. On the closest hill, track marks have been carved into the snow. All of this takes place not at the local ski resort but at the neighborhood sledding hill.

In an area where downhill and Nordic skiing remain prominent, sledding often goes overlooked as an activity of choice for kids. And it is not simply the younger children who enjoy plummeting down the sled hills; teenagers seem to be ever-present, as well. They are the ones who build jumps, create pyramids out of their friends' bodies, and indulge in daredevil acts on the rises. They even create makeshift snowboards out of their flimsy, plastic sleds.

Sledding is a great alternative to snowboarding and downhill skiing. There is no lift ticket involved, the activity requires little to no skill, and the equipment costs are minimal. In fact, actual sleds are not even necessary to participate. On a recent outing with our oldest son, Justin, several people plunged down the hill in garbage bags. A little unconventional, to say the least, but they made it work. When compared with the cost of a day's lift ticket and rentals - not to mention the occasional lesson - sledding seems like a cost-effective way to spend some time in the outdoors on a winter's day. And for those who want to indulge in more mountainous terrain, some of the Four Corners' ski resorts offer tubing hills at a minimal cost.

Sledding has other perks, as well. It gives the adult a ticket to return to his or her youth. Once seated on a sled and moving uncontrollably down the hill, inhibitions seem to dissolve. The semblance of control is lost; no instructor-taught skills are available to enable a person to master the art of sledding. It is a free-for-all where the bumps and grooves of the hill take charge. Furthermore, one of the greatest things about sledding is that it does not discriminate. Regardless of economic status or ability, anyone can participate. Often, our family struggles when it comes to going downhill skiing - a sport that we thoroughly enjoy. Since our youngest son, Zane, is significantly disabled, he cannot participate in skiing. If we wish to go, one of us needs to stay behind to care for him while the other takes Justin skiing. With sledding, we all can join in. There is no special, adaptive equipment needed in order for Zane to plummet down a sled hill - just a parent to ride with him to make sure he does not fall off.

Yet, falling does seem to come with the territory. Despite Justin's reckless abandon on the ski slopes, he exhibits some degree of reluctance when it comes to sledding. The last hill we took him to was hard-packed and bumpy. After spilling from the toboggan during his first trip down, he simply stated, "I guess I don't want to do that again." He was not the only kid to make such a declaration. Down the line, a seven-year-old girl stood up from her descent and said matter-of-factly, "I don't want to do this anymore." Yet, the rough terrain seems highly appealing to the tweens and teens. The younger crowd remains more interested in the lower-angled landscape.

Sledding may not come with the same badges associated with skiing - toting a ski carrier atop a four-wheel-drive vehicle or wearing the telltale lift ticket on a jacket zipper - but it still offers the same feelings of exhilaration that come with shushing down the grooves of a ski run. And at the day's end, the sledder owns the additional honor of having trekked up the hill after each descent, rather than taking the leisurely ride up the chairlift. And with sledding, there are fewer limitations. For most kids, all they require is a mound of snow and a means of getting down it. Even for Justin and Zane, our driveway is a sufficient place to sled, even without a toboggan. That is, until the snow blower comes along and ruins the run.