Whilst the U.K has been in the icy grips of the ‘Beast from the East’, and the country seems to have ground to a halt, our walking adventures have also been put on ice. However, that hasn’t stopped us getting outside and the kids have enjoyed the chance to play in proper snow. With school being closed they’ve actually played outside a lot more this week, and we have been perfecting our sledging!
Here are our top sledging tips
- Layer up! It goes without saying you need to wrap up warm, using the layering system with base layer, mid layer and outer layer at the very least. We added waterproof trousers too so no one was worried about getting wet or dirty. Definitely no jeans, they get cold quick and stay cold. There’s nothing more miserable that going out and getting absolutely freezing, so make sure you’re wrapped up and have gloves, hats and mittens.
- Choose your hill – choose your hill carefully, farmers probably won’t be very pleased should you churn up their fields so make sure you have permission to sledge.
- Steering tips. We had some family races down the hill and did have a few crashes! If you start to veer off to one side, lean into it to pull your sledge into the opposite direction. Keep arms and legs in the sledge and don’t be too tempted to leave your fingers behind – it hurts!
- If you do come off and crash, GET BACK ON! Our youngest had a few crashes and was then frightened of the sledge. We sent her down again because we didn’t want her to become frightened of trying again. Go team Hip2trek we shouted and gave her a big clap as she made it down safely.
- Have fun! The idea is to ride and have fun. We had family competitions and races, both to the bottom of the hill and back up again. My eldest was daring trying to go down head first. As soon as it isn’t fun anymore then it’s time to go home and warm up. We recommend hot juice and cake as post sledging recovery.
What have you been doing in the snowy weather? Have you any sledging tips?
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