On Saturday we turned our attention to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to seek the opinion of that wise seer-of-the-future Punxsutawney Phil, the weather forecasting groundhog. For more than 120 years, Phil has been predicting the end of winter. This year, news came swiftly to Milwaukee that Phil saw his shadow, which means another six weeks of winter for all of us.
Even though many people are probably getting sick of the ungodly amounts of snow we’ve dealt with all winter – the weatherman claims we’ve had about 72 inches amass this season – we have to remember that we live in Wisconsin and this is what winters are supposed to be like. I guess sometimes you just have to make the most of it, which is why Eric and I took advantage of the morning’s fresh coat of snow and the seemingly endless winter by going tobogganing at Whitnall Park.
The toboggan slide at Whitnall Park features two quarter-mile – 1,020 feet long – meticulously iced tracks with a total run of about 1,500 feet, described a FOX 6 reporter during a story aired on Friday.
On our way, Eric and I stopped at Stone Creek Coffee for our daily caffeine fix and we were given a special coupon in celebration of Groundhog Day. The voucher was good for either a 12-ounce white chocolate mocha if Phil sees his shadow or a 12-ounce vanilla bean Latte if Phil proclaims the coming of spring. Needless to say, we redeemed the coupons for two mochas to brace us for the snowy afternoon.
To our surprise, the day dawned the warmest temperature – 32 degrees – that we’ve experienced in the last two weeks, according to the forecast on the radio. It was actually quite beautiful as a soft snow fell throughout most of the day. And since it wasn’t freezing outside, it made for a comfortable afternoon as well; then again, I was dressed like Randy in A Christmas Story.
Once we found the Winter Sports Area hidden amid the trees in the enormous park, we put on our hats and donned our mittens and went to see what the toboggan experience was all about.
At the top of a huge sledding hill was a little shed swelling with toboggans in a variety of sizes. We paid $6.50 each for the hour and then towed our six-foot toboggan over to a line adjacent to the sledding hill where groups of snow bunnies waited anxiously for their turn down the toboggan slide.
There were two lines and both were quite long, but they moved very fast. After standing idle for just a few minutes, my toes and finger tips began to freeze, so I was really relieved when we were finally ready to go. Honestly, I was a little nervous, which is pretty ridiculous considering there were three-year-old kids who were really eager to take on the icy run.
We rolled our toboggan up onto an incline and the sled was held there by a wooden block. I grabbed the first seat and Eric sat snuggly behind me. As we got situated, a family of six piled onto an eight-foot sled on the other slide parallel to ours. With Eric’s arms wrapped around my waist and his legs folded around me, I felt very secure but I also had a pretty firm grip on the sled.
At the sound of a buzzer, a young man in a camouflage coat stepped on a latch that released our toboggan and sent us sliding down the run. Woooeeee! We tightly hung onto each other and kept our hands and feet inside the walls of the slide as we reached speeds upwards of 40 miles per hour. As we zipped downhill hurtling across the ice, flakes of snow whirled and whizzed past, some stinging my face as I clutched the front of the toboggan. It was very invigorating!
Each toboggan is fitted with metal runners that sit on two steel rails along the slide. Before the toboggan run is open, snow is patted down into the track and water is sprayed across to form several layers of ice to make the sleds speed down the track with ease. Plus, the icy surface makes for an especially smooth ride, which my bum definitely appreciated.
After launching off the run, our toboggan moved forward and onto the snow for another 10 yards or so. Once the sled completely stopped, we rolled off and laid in the cold snow for a few seconds, catching powdery flakes on our noses and eyelashes as we took in our first toboggan run. This is what I’d call extreme sledding, my friends!
The first ride down was so exhilarating that we were hyped to go again right away! Luckily, we didn’t have to worry about coughing up any more money since our initial rental fee allowed for unlimited rides. We took advantage of the all-you-can-ride offer and raced down the run several times trying to think of ways to make the toboggan move faster. Eric and I went down the hill and climbed back up again and again until our lungs felt frozen and we were winded from lugging the awkward sled back up the hill.
You see, going down was cake; it’s getting back up to the top that requires some leg power. I wish they had an overhead lift system to carry toboggans back to the top of the hill because it was really exhausting – we were sweating and freezing all at the same time!
Fortunately, when we had to take a break from the intolerable cold or to catch our breath, we were able to warm-up next to the large, smoldering bonfire and later at the clubhouse where we grabbed a cup of hot chocolate to warm our frozen hands on our way home.
Tobogganing was AWESOME! Since we have six more weeks of winter left, you and your friends and family should take advantage of this unique winter activity. It will help you appreciate the long Wisconsin winters, that is, until you have to go home and shovel more snow.
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Tobogganing
Whitnall Park
5879 S. 92nd Street (opposite the golf course)
Hours: Thursday through Friday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(weather permitting)
Unlimited rides $6.50 per toboggan per hour
For group outings, call (414) 425-7303
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