Now that winter is looming, I wanted to reshare this article comparing the relative merits of different sledding apparatus. Originally written for Mountaineer magazine, I tested the limits so you wouldn’t have to. Learn how to pick the best snow sled for the next time you hit the slopes.
My hometown of Bozeman, Montana, has four seasons: summer, fall, snow, and mud. Snow season is the longest. While the climate crisis has changed things, as a child I remember planning Halloween costumes based on what would pair well with my snowsuit, and I often celebrated my mid-May birthday in a snowstorm. I spent many a weekend at the local sledding hill sweating my way up (often quitting halfway) and squealing my way down. As such, I consider myself a connoisseur of fun in freezing season.
With snow just around the corner, we thought it was a good time to explore the best snow sliding apparatus options for you. Below are our favorite sledding devices, each contraption rated on a five-star scale for downhill speed, relative comfort, steering capacity, overall durability, and ease of carrying said device back uphill.
Happy sledding!
The Classic toboggan
A classic toboggan is a sled made of wooden slats, most often painted red, and includes skis made of plastic or metal. Toboggans also come with a pull rope to help steer on the way down and pull on the way up. They’re perfect for two riders, but can be dangerous should you find yourself on the wrong side of the sharp-edged sled.
- Speed: ***
- Comfort: **
- Steering: *****
- Durability: ****
- Uphill carry: **
- Overall score: 3.2
A plastic sled
Plastic sleds are modeled after toboggans, but are lighter weight and thus less maneuverable. You can easily fit 2-3 adults on a bigger one (or up to five kids if you live dangerously), but do expect to careen wildly off course. It comes with a handy towrope for uphill travel (just don’t get tangled in it on the decent) or for pulling your kids about town.
- Speed: ****
- Comfort: ****
- Steering: ***
- Durability: *****
- Uphill carry: ****
- Overall score: 4.0
The flying saucer
Like a UFO but for the earth, a saucer is disk shaped and comes in an array of bright colors. Wild maniacs will pair an extra person with the rider for added excitement (growing up we called these the ejectees). Saucers are built to take abuse, and their slick bottoms makes them surprisingly fast.
- Speed: *****
- Comfort: ****
- Steering: *
- Durability: *****
- Uphill carry: ***
- Overall score: 3.6
A lunch tray
When I was a kid we used to have to steal lunch trays from the cafeteria to enjoy their sweet slickness, but nowadays you can buy a lunch tray style sled (I think they still mostly come in brown though). They’re fast, light, and completely out of control.
- Speed: ***
- Comfort: **
- Steering: *
- Durability: *****
- Uphill carry: *****
- Overall score: 3.2
The totally tubular
Snow tubes come in various shapes and sizes, and are even more fun thanks to the influencers of Instagram who prefer to float around pools on inflatable swans and unicorns. You can go with the classic black tube or upgrade to something fancier, like an inflatable duck. But what you gain in comfort you lose in steering and ease of carry, and depending on your style of choice you may only get one ride, as the more absurd tubes are often far less durable.
- Speed: *****
- Comfort: *****
- Steering: *
- Durability: **
- Uphill carry: **
- Overall score: 3.0
A black garbage bag
A favorite of seasoned glissaders, a black garbage bag is the perfect tool for one person to enjoy insanely fast sledding for a single day. Pack that bag uphill without a care in the world, then slide down as many times as your unprotected bum can handle (or until the bag shreds to smithereens). The black garbage bag gets a bad rap, but those people sure look like they are having the most fun. My only caveat: remember to pick up your shreds!
- Speed: *****
- Comfort: *
- Steering: *
- Durability: **
- Uphill carry: *****
- Overall score: 2.8
This article originally appeared in The Mountaineers winter 2023 issue of Mountaineer magazine. To view the original article in magazine form and read more stories, visit their magazine archive. To read more of my articles, check out my list of external publications.
