Sledging

This evening, we went night sledging. Just so we're all on the same page, sledging is British for sledding, not 'the practice of insulting opposition' which the Australian cricket team is known for. Anyway, here is the webpage advertising what we did.

We met up after dinner at the hotel and walked over to the cable car station which from we were taken to the top of the mountain. We were then all given a plastic sled with metal runners and pointed towards to track.

Luckily, some people in the group knew German and could talk to the people running the lifts about the run, and others had been sledging before, so we were given a quick overview before we started. Basically, it was sit on the plastic and use your feet to brake and steer. Oh, and the track was marked with orange lights, though some of the turns were lit.

That warning on the webpage Sledge at your own risk should have been a little more prominent. It was pretty terrifying hurtling down the mountain with very little control over speed and direction and only by moonlight. Terrifying, but exhilarating. *grins*

I concentrated on staying on the track (kind of difficult on a sled which tended to veer left) and maintaining at a comfortable speed (no racing for me), but I still ended up falling off my sled a couple of times on the first run, and once on my second run. The issue with falling off was that it hadn't snowed in over a week, so it was all hard ice on the ground. I somehow landed on my head on my first fall, so my face is now a little scratched up on the left side, which is a little uncomfortable, but I'm okay otherwise. *smiles*

On a slight side note, because it was a lovely clear night out, I got my first good look at the northern stars, and now can identify the Big Dipper, the North Star and Cassiopeia. It was also nice to see Orion and Sirius to the south, though it was strange not being able to see the Southern Cross or Alpha Centauri or Canopus.