Toboggan training…Part three…. steep slopes.

As I mentioned before, the first few times out with the toboggan are purely survival and not wanting to fall and get run over by the sled (yep it runs you over if you fall in front of it).

Now that I’ve had 4+ days on the hill pulling sleds, its getting a lot easier and I’m now comfortable pulling two and three people around in it.    I can’t believe that 4 days ago I could barely ski in front of it and now we are going down steep walls with 200+ pounds in the sled to make it go fast with gravity.  The learning curve comes very quickly and with every run you get more confidence and ability (thank goodness!).

Once you get comfortable you start to hit more agressive hills.  This is where the tail rope comes in.  I picked the picture above for this post as it is a perfect example of how you can get down a steep slope safely.  Basically you get two people and one gets on top and uses the tail rope as a belay, just like in rock climbing.  That way if you screw up, your tail roper can hold the weight of the sled or help you brake.

Its quite simple really and actually works quite well.  One of the guys in my class had the chain brake fail to work on the steepest run on our hill (with ME IN THE SLED AS THE GUEST!!!).  I could see him struggling to make the brake work and it wasn’t going to cooperate as it was jammed.  We started to pick up speed and the tail roper noticed, tightened up on belay and started braking. With two people braking, the sled is pretty easy to stop on even the steepest of runs.    What the sled doesn’t come with is a supply of toilet paper in case someone soils themselves during training as we learn how to handle the steeps with 300+ pounds of stuff pushing you downhill.

After the first run its just like a roller coaster…. lets do it again!