1866 - Adolphus Warburton Moore, Mountaineer
Down the Hill by Sledge
Grindelwald, Switzerland
After dinner we joined the villagers in an amusement to which they were exceedingly partial. This consisted of sliding in the little sledges, used for carrying wood, down the long steep descent which the road makes from the inn to the Wengern Alp path. The snow had been beaten perfectly smooth by the traffic, and the road was like ice; so that the pace, when once the machines were started, was very great. The guiding was done with the heels, which were generally carried in the air, but were allowed to lightly touch the ground on one side or the other, according as it was desired to incline to the right or left. The turns of the road are very sharp, and no small skill was required in order to make them without a spill, which was apt to be unpleasant, not only from the violence of the shock, but from the probability of being run over by some of the other performers, a dozen of whom were going at once. The general rule was for each man to travel in his own little sledge, but the most exhilarating and exciting form of the entertainment was certainly to got six together in a large sledge, steered by Peter Bohren whon was unanimously voted the ablest pilot, and who took us down at a pace of nearly twenty miles an hour. The only drawback to the absolute perfection of the amusement, which we kept up to a late hour, arose from the obvious fact that it was impossible to keep going down for ever, and that from the bottom of the hill the seldges had to be dragged to the top again, an operation of some delicacy when attempted to be performed in slippers.
Moore, Adolphus Warburton
Winter Expeditions in the Alps
In: The Alpine Journal, the Journal of the Alpine Club
Vol 4, 1868/1870