Today, with the last of the winter snow remaining on the ground, the final remnants of winter in patches, we decide today would be the perfect day to go sledding. Regardless of the fact that we should have done this months ago when we actually had a decent amount of snow, we were psyched nonetheless. We formulated the plan at lunch, and as we were talking to Renaud and the chef and told them of our plans to “faire la luge”, they asked, so you’re going to the top of the Saleve where there’s actually snow, right? Uh, no.
We only had one actual sled, Leah’s, so we snuck a few caf trays out and back to the dorm we went to prepare ourselves. You would have thought we were going deep sea diving the way some of these girls were preparing themselves. There were multiple changes of clothes and shoes, as we discussed how warm it was, how much snow vs. mud there actually was, the cons of wearing white to such an event, etc. Then came the accessories. I realize how ridiculous this sounds, but please know Leah and I did not take part in this silliness. We took about five minutes to get dressed and then stood around and waited and witnessed the others.
FINALLY, we were ready. It was a gorgeous day, with the sun brilliantly shinning, which was to our advantage and disadvantage since, yes, it was warm and gorgeous, but it was also melting the little remaining snow we had. We trekked down the street, half of us in jeans and the other half in their noisy, swishy snow pants, to a little park that has a very small hill. It was a grand and amusing time. Turns out, the caf trays didn’t work out all that well; they weren’t big enough to really allow for adequate balance, so when you hit a small bump on the hill you either went flying off the tray and slid down the rest of the hill without it, or if you were really lucky, the bump would catch the tray just right and you’d do a nice flip/roll.
Those in snow pants, especially Stephanie’s, discovered their snow pants were as conducive, if not more so, to sliding down the hill, so many went down without tray or sled. Then there was the doubling up on the sled, the “surfing” down the hill, and other such maneuvers. It became increasingly difficult to make the trek back up the hill for another go since we had made it so slippery. After a while, we had completely demolished what was once a beautiful snowy hill into what looked like a war zone where a massacre had taken place. Mud, grass, and snow were everywhere, including us, though mostly mud, since there was really very little snow to begin with.
At the very end, we had one last go of it, with everyone at the same time. It was chaos and pandemonium with everyone running into each other, flipping into the muddy snow and screaming and legs flying. It was great to get out and enjoy the sun and the last of the snow. Farewell winter, we enjoyed you while you were here! PS- I hold the record for best videos, first ice-skating, now sledding. This afternoon, (see video) no one beat me on the sled in distance or speed : )
Today, with the last of the winter snow remaining on the ground, the final remnants of winter in patches, we decide today would be the perfect day to go sledding. Regardless of the fact that we should have done this months ago when we actually had a decent amount of snow, we were psyched nonetheless. We formulated the plan at lunch, and as we were talking to Renaud and the chef and told them of our plans to “faire la luge”, they asked, so you’re going to the top of the Saleve where there’s actually snow, right? Uh, no. 
We only had one actual sled, Leah’s, so we snuck a few caf trays out and back to the dorm we went to prepare ourselves. You would have thought we were going deep sea diving the way some of these girls were preparing themselves. There were multiple changes of clothes and shoes, as we discussed how warm it was, how much snow vs. mud there actually was, the cons of wearing white to such an event, etc. Then came the accessories. I realize how ridiculous this sounds, but please know Leah and I did not take part in this silliness. We took about five minutes to get dressed and then stood around and waited and witnessed the others. 
FINALLY, we were ready. It was a gorgeous day, with the sun brilliantly shinning, which was to our advantage and disadvantage since, yes, it was warm and gorgeous, but it was also melting the little remaining snow we had. We trekked down the street, half of us in jeans and the other half in their noisy, swishy snow pants, to a little park that has a very small hill. It was a grand and amusing time. Turns out, the caf trays didn’t work out all that well; they weren’t big enough to really allow for adequate balance, so when you hit a small bump on the hill you either went flying off the tray and slid down the rest of the hill without it, or if you were really lucky, the bump would catch the tray just right and you’d do a nice flip/roll. 
Those in snow pants, especially Stephanie’s, discovered their snow pants were as conducive, if not more so, to sliding down the hill, so many went down without tray or sled. Then there was the doubling up on the sled, the “surfing” down the hill, and other such maneuvers. It became increasingly difficult to make the trek back up the hill for another go since we had made it so slippery. After a while, we had completely demolished what was once a beautiful snowy hill into what looked like a war zone where a massacre had taken place. Mud, grass, and snow were everywhere, including us, though mostly mud, since there was really very little snow to begin with. 
At the very end, we had one last go of it, with everyone at the same time. It was chaos and pandemonium with everyone running into each other, flipping into the muddy snow and screaming and legs flying. It was great to get out and enjoy the sun and the last of the snow. Farewell winter, we enjoyed you while you were here! PS- I hold the record for best videos, first ice-skating, now sledding. This afternoon, (see video) no one beat me on the sled in distance or speed : )
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