Sledding

The first picture has my father Bruce in the left front with his sled. His father, Ed is on the back right. I don't know the other two people. The other two pictures are of my father Bruce as a young boy with his father, Ed on a Flexible Flyer sled. The photo is undated but I think it dates to 1935-1937. I still have that sled. It has all its original parts except for the rope which was replaced. It is a Flexible Flyer that is probably 75 years old in 2011.

This is how my Flexible Flyer sled appears today.

A picture of me with my sled.

It is getting hard to find places to go sledding due to liability reasons. There are a few parks in Bucks County, Pennsylvania that still allow sledding. When I was a kid we would go to the school near my house but they added on to the school and the hill is no longer there.

The original Flexible Flyer is an incredible sled. It is fast and has "Super Steering". My sister has a Flexible Flyer made in the 1960's and they were not made the same then and the steering was not as good. Some places have banned the Flexible Flyer because they are dangerous. I have tried a lot of the newer sleds and nothing comes close.

Every now and then I meet someone on the slopes with an old Flexible Flyer or even one of the new ones. The new ones are expensive (even used) compared to a plastic sled. I think most people can't justify the cost. The one drawback is you need to have packed snow.

modified 12/10/2011