We spent this last Christmas in Saskatchewan, which is flat, and so we went to a part that wasn’t to have very cold fun.
In Regina, there’s a man-made lake, and they had to put the dirt they dug out for it somewhere, and quite a lot went into hill in the Wascana Centre, which isn’t all that high and you can drive to the top of, but everything’s relative and it sure feels high when you’re standing on top of it.
High, and on December 24th at -15°C with a breeze, really cold. I photographed my twin nieces Anne and Elizabeth up there; Elizabeth explains “I was trying to smile but it was too cold”. They’re pretty cool; they can be found online, their handles are Icylight and Thundraforest.
The sledding hill is really excellent, except for if you conserve too much speed you’re in the bushes at the bottom and may get wedged. Here’s my twenty-something nephew William and my eleven-year-old son sharing a sled on the upper part of the hill. That’s my Mom standing behind them on the top.
The slope has a few hardened-snow-heap jumps on it. And yes, I took a turn on the sled. It was fun! But, unlike most other peoples’ rides, the sled settled into the downhill ruts with no spinning or swaying and was pointed like a laser right at the middle of the highest jump. So, not having a taste for big air, I bailed ingloriously and got snow in my nose and ears.
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: John Bristowe (Jan 27 2011, at 07:50)
I played in many hockey tournaments in Regina as a kid. Your body never forgets that kind of cold. ;)
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