 Poster: A snowHead
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Thinking of nipping off for a little late snowboarding with the hubby - he's a teacher so will have to be the school hols. One thing we've always said we want to do is night tobogganing  I'm somewhat hesitant as I have visions of hurtling down a slop in the pitch black and ending up in a crumpled mess at the bottom!...
Anybody here ever given it a go and is it all that scary?
Dont want to look like a complete sado, but do people normally wear ski helmets (I've skied in Austria for the last few years where for skiing/boarding it's 95%+ people in helmets and now cant imagine going down a slop without one!)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Iona Lerington, done the one from Oberlech to Lech at night and it's fantastic. Has its own snow cannon and pisten bully, and even it's own berms. Absolute great fun.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Friends did it in St Anton a few weeks ago - most people wors ski boots and helmets. Goggles are handy as loads of snow sprays up at you when you try to turn.
Looks stupidly dangerous compared to skiing / snowboarding!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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kat.ryb, +1
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Did a day of tobogganing in Grindelwald & Wengen in Feb - def felt more dangerous than skiing with scope for some v spectacular crashes, but great fun. Can't remember if we wore our helmets, think we did. The runs we did were very long and sometimes also had walkers on them, or joined up with pistes, in which case you needed to take extra care, though if it was night tobogganing, I think the runs would be dedicated to tobogganing.
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I did the one in Val Thorens on my own during the day back in January. It was very confusing as you start out on the (blue) piste, and I was getting all sorts of comments from people skiing past who were also confused. You feel a lot more vulnerable in a little sledge close to the ground with people whipping past on boards and skis!
The run itself was "interesting" - I was hoping it would be more fun than it was. It was very bumpy (no idea if it was optimal conditions though) and I seemed to spend an awful lot of time getting up to walk as there seemed to be a lot of flats. It crosses the piste in a few places too. It was less scary, more hard work and uncomfortable and I was glad to reach the bottom! And this comes from somebody who adores sledging when it snows here in the UK.
The very next day I flew back, it had snowed here, and my children wanted me to sledge down a small hill near the house. I think my enthusiasm was sadly lacking for once - I was tobogganed out 
Maybe it's more fun in better conditions/smoother ride? I know they do night runs.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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sparklies, that really sounds like no fun at all.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think it might be more fun if you're not on your own! But still, it was not as much fun as I had hoped - although I wasn't quite imagining a bobsleigh-style run, I was expecting something a little less choppy. Maybe it would have been more fun if it was shorter - this one was 6km I think, the longest in France allegedly! Once you've gone down ten steep bendy bits, you've done them all.. which is odd because that doesn't apply to skiing.
I just checked out a video on YouTube in case I'd gone on it with sub-optimal conditions but it looks fairly accurate. All I can think is that probably most of the fun is from doing it with friends! There were some fun moments, don't get me wrong, but it would have been far better to have shared them with others. It's not like when I was skiing and I was very happy on my own!
There were some idiot skiers off-piste who kept diving in and out of the run as well (skiers were strictly forbidden, unsurprisingly..) taking me by surprise which did not do much for my nerves either! This would not be a problem at night though.
I went down quite cautiously and given I had nobody to keep up with I only fell out once at the start, where I, like an idiot, thought to try and slow down with my ski boots out the side. This results in rather a blast of snow in the face, zero visibility, no slowing down and you can guess the rest  Wearing ski boots was actually quite uncomfortable because they're so heavy and clumpy, and difficult to rest inside the toboggan as they kept sliding out. I think I may have found it less uncomfortable with some regular snow boots. The bumps didn't do much for my lower back either!
Despite saying that, I have to say I have had the best time sledging in Greenwich Park in the past, which is probably even more lethal so I don't think it's down to my own personal fears. But then I've been doing it with my family there of course! Although Greenwich Park could use a gondola.. the Thames cable car is not very well placed 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| sparklies wrote: |
| I did the one in Val Thorens on my own during the day back in January. ......Maybe it's more fun in better conditions/smoother ride? |
We did this 2 years ago - it was awesome - no pushing, seemingly huge speed and virtually no control. (There were 4 of us, all with a competitive streak, so that might have made the difference. We also did it first thing on a morning after it had been pisted, so very few bumps.) I would go back to VT just to do it again.
p.s. - Boots, helmet and maybe a steel pin in your spine would be advised 
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Iona Lerington, we did the night toboggan run last year in La Plagne - great fun, but very badly organised - only one person in charge of our very large group, who whizzed off leaving those of us a little further back to pretty much guess which way to go - thankfully spotting glimpses of the head torches of those in front gave a clue! definitely wear a helmet - lots of people had pretty impressive tumbles from sledges (perhaps because many of us were on child size ones as they didn't have enough adult ones 😳). Lots of laughing involved too, and rounded of with vin chaud or hot chocolate - or both 🍷
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FAQ
- no helmets.
) suffered concussion. If she'd had a helmet on (it was years ago) she'd have been fine too.
