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When I was in 5th grade I lived in Algona. Iowa. Our county bordered southern Minnesota. We got a lot of snow, so we would take our sleds to school and then go directly to the town sledding hill after. It was a steep incline that was well used, so much so that the snow was packed and as hard as concrete. The city actually put up lights and installed a motorized pull rope to get you to the top.
The rope was a huge loop (like a bicycle chain) that laid on the ground and and was attached to a motor in a shed at the top of the hill. The rope was then fed back down the hill through pulleys fastened to the top of telephone poles. At the bottom of the hill was a large pulley that fed the rope back to the ground. You could slide to the bottom of the hill, then lie on your stomach, on your sled and grab the rope. The rope would then pull you up the hill with the top of the loop way over your head going back down the hill. (This has been one of the worst paragraphs I've ever written. I don't care... and I'm moving on.)
The city had replaced the rope that day and we were the first to use it. It was getting dark and the wind was bitterly cold, I was glad the tow-rope was there or I'd never get back up the hill. The rope, however was too long and was not taut when it looped back down the hill through the pulleys. It was so loose that the excess rope would sag all the way to the ground and drag for a moment before snapping taut between the telephone poles and sagging between the next two poles.
The wind was blowing hard and it stung my face. I was clutching the rope tightly with my eyes shut as I was being pulled up the hill. Suddenly I was spinning in the air (my schoolmates later told me I looked like a GI Joe that had been flung through the air in a flying cart wheel.) I opened my eyes just in time to see the ice-packed tundra rush up to meet my face.
The next thing I remember is two guys I didn't know were attempting to pull me up the hill on a makeshift stretcher/aluminum dish. I remember one guy saying, "Man, this kid sure weighs a ton (thanks guys)"
It was dark when I came to. All my classmates had left me. I didn't know where I was and I couldn't tell them where I lived. Of course they didn't call the ambulance, they just loaded me in thier car and drove around until I recognized a street and eventually got me home (Algona is a small town.)
My Mom and Dad were at work until 9 PM so I took a bath and waited for them to get home. I don't think I even told them about it. It was probably, "How was sledding?" Me, "Fine."
Later that winter my friend's dad was riding on the back of a toboggan with five or six kids sitting in front of him on that same hill. As they neared the bottom of the hill he stuck his right boot out to slow them down. The hill was so icy, slick, and fast that his right foot flew up past his right ear instantly breaking his knee and hip. He eventually had his leg amputated.
Sledding is fun...
And that was just the first of multiple times I've been rendered unconscious.
Good times.
chris
When I was in 5th grade I lived in Algona. Iowa. Our county bordered southern Minnesota. We got a lot of snow, so we would take our sleds to school and then go directly to the town sledding hill after. It was a steep incline that was well used, so much so that the snow was packed and as hard as concrete. The city actually put up lights and installed a motorized pull rope to get you to the top.
The rope was a huge loop (like a bicycle chain) that laid on the ground and and was attached to a motor in a shed at the top of the hill. The rope was then fed back down the hill through pulleys fastened to the top of telephone poles. At the bottom of the hill was a large pulley that fed the rope back to the ground. You could slide to the bottom of the hill, then lie on your stomach, on your sled and grab the rope. The rope would then pull you up the hill with the top of the loop way over your head going back down the hill. (This has been one of the worst paragraphs I've ever written. I don't care... and I'm moving on.)
The city had replaced the rope that day and we were the first to use it. It was getting dark and the wind was bitterly cold, I was glad the tow-rope was there or I'd never get back up the hill. The rope, however was too long and was not taut when it looped back down the hill through the pulleys. It was so loose that the excess rope would sag all the way to the ground and drag for a moment before snapping taut between the telephone poles and sagging between the next two poles.
The wind was blowing hard and it stung my face. I was clutching the rope tightly with my eyes shut as I was being pulled up the hill. Suddenly I was spinning in the air (my schoolmates later told me I looked like a GI Joe that had been flung through the air in a flying cart wheel.) I opened my eyes just in time to see the ice-packed tundra rush up to meet my face.
The next thing I remember is two guys I didn't know were attempting to pull me up the hill on a makeshift stretcher/aluminum dish. I remember one guy saying, "Man, this kid sure weighs a ton (thanks guys)"
It was dark when I came to. All my classmates had left me. I didn't know where I was and I couldn't tell them where I lived. Of course they didn't call the ambulance, they just loaded me in thier car and drove around until I recognized a street and eventually got me home (Algona is a small town.)
My Mom and Dad were at work until 9 PM so I took a bath and waited for them to get home. I don't think I even told them about it. It was probably, "How was sledding?" Me, "Fine."
Later that winter my friend's dad was riding on the back of a toboggan with five or six kids sitting in front of him on that same hill. As they neared the bottom of the hill he stuck his right boot out to slow them down. The hill was so icy, slick, and fast that his right foot flew up past his right ear instantly breaking his knee and hip. He eventually had his leg amputated.
Sledding is fun...
And that was just the first of multiple times I've been rendered unconscious.
Good times.
chris
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