Never heard of any ski area allowing sleds. I had to Google hammerhead sled, looks interesting. I saw YouTube videos at ski areas but they looked like they were closed. There was one video in Austria where the area was open. I think your gonna have to pack beer, hike up at night, and don't get caught.

I saw one video of a guy going thru glades in the skeleton position. That's ballsy. It appears that those things have ok control but I don't think I'd be that confident.

Go pats!!!

 

Nope. Every resort that I have been too posts that sleds are prohibited on their slopes. However, there are areas adjacent to many ski areas that you can sled. There is a short tubing/sledding hill open to the public at Ski Cooper. Many people sled at Old Monarch Pass outside Monarch Ski Area.

They are generally pretty strict about what kind of equipment is allowed on lift serviced slopes.... you have to remember that Taos didn't even allow snowboards until a few years ago and you still can't ride a single plank at Alta....

 

Nope. But I used to poach winter park (Colorado) after it closed every year. Came in from out of bounds for some fun hill climbing. Sheriffs always showed up after an hour or two with their sleds but never could catch us with their trail sleds (short tracks with 60 hp) (us long tracks 140 hp). If they catch you they can charge you the trespassing.

 

So as a side note.
The reason some resorts don't allow sledding, is due to what has happened before. One event being that when ski patrol showed up on the scene afterword, the youth group members head was hear, but the girls brain was about 10 feet away. The First responder did CPR anyway, because other members of the group were watching, and could not see that it was an injury inconsistent with life.
Sledding hills have relatively safe runouts, ski resorts have trees and lift towers.

 

Yeah...pretty sure that happened at Beaver Creek a while ago (10-15 years ago). I know something similar happened at least. A girl was tubing near the bottom of Strawberry Park ski lift and hit a retaining wall at speed. Sad, but not quite as spectacular as the Spanish prince that thought he was too good to pay attention to a slope closure during the 1989 Ski World Championships and ended up skiing into the finish line banner cable while they were changing the banner and basically decapitating himself.

I grew up in Vail and definitely got kicked off the hill at Gold Peak after the season had ended one year when I was 12-13. It may be National Forest land, but Vail has it leased and controls it and certainly won't risk the liability unless it is one of their "for profit" areas and you've signed a liability release.

Plenty of places to go sledding near ski areas though, just not on ski area property.

 

So I hope folks know he's not talking about snowmobiles, but new, high-performance lay on top sleds.

JIMM - the Hammerhead looks like a lot of fun. If you check out their website, there's a link that shows sled hills in the Rockies.

-AH

 

Just watch out for the sleds with the recall. One guy on Amazon review was precisely the recall, the steering mechanism broke and hit him in the throat. Sounds like they have figured out the problem units and have not caused any serious injury yet. I've watched a bunch of you tube videos with these now, they look like fun. Still think your nuts going that fast head first down a single track trail. It does appear very control able, but how will it act if it bounces of a rock?

 

FWIW. Not a ski area, but I used to sled in an old runner sled down Lickskillet gulch as a kid, which is a steep, quiet dirt road from Gold Hill to Left Hand Canyon West of Boulder. It's about a mile long and pretty consistent grade. A few switchbacks, a little steeper in places, but mostly long curves.

It's the steepest county road in the US, so it doesn't get much vehicle traffic in the winter. Unlikely spot for LEO's as well since I expect there to be some rule against it now given it is Boulder.

It does get plowed sooner or later, so with one of those sleds you may want to go right after a minor snowfall ( 3" - 6" ? )

We slowed down by hanging more and more off the back, or throwing a leg over the side to create more drag.

Otherwise, we also used to tow those same sleds behind 4WD. Sometimes multiples at a time and the winner was the last one sledding.

 

A few more thoughts.

Sledding down a County Road is a Class B traffic offense. Like having a taillight out. $50 fine and no points. But please watch for cars if you do. And if you do, pick a time or place when and where there aren't cars around. I'm merely attesting that they do make excellent sled runs. Maybe rally to make Lickskillet a designated Sled run a few weeks of the year ?

What about Forest Roads where it is 100% legal to haul you up in a Snowmobile then free-sled down ? Just because they are snow covered doesn't mean you can't use them for Motor Vehicle traffic. In reality, snowmobiles are allowed cross-country travel that is prohibited to wheeled vehicles during warmer months.

Or out here on the Grand Mesa you can drive up in your 2WD, Walk about 100 yards then sled down 3,500' vertical.

Or around Denver; Loveland pass. Monarch Pass. Cameron Pass, Kenosha Pass, etc.

And regarding riding, Never go faster than you' like to bail off.

 

Either side of Vail Pass on the bike trail.