Not rocket science, but it's a blast

By Deb Acord, Special to the Rocky

Published December 18, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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First, find a worthy snow-covered hill. Next, throw yourself onto a wooden or plastic sled, a flattened cardboard box or even a cafeteria tray and point yourself downhill. Lift your feet and gravity does the rest.

Instant fun.

Sure, you can invest in a high-tech sled. You can wrap yourself in Gore-Tex. You can gear up with a hydration system and winter-rated boots. But you don't have to.

"With sledding, you can get your thrills the old- fashioned way," says Jim Cope of Estes Park.

Cope is a member of the Sled Dawgs, a volunteer group at one of the state's most unusual sledding areas: Hidden Valley, in Rocky Mountain National Park. The group takes care of the ranger station and warming house, answers visitor questions and patrols the hill, making sure sledders stay safely within the boundaries.

Cope became a Sled Dawg four years ago when Hidden Valley opened to sledding. Hidden Valley lies on a bend of Trail Ridge Road about eight miles into the park. Until 1992, it was an alpine ski area, one of a handful of areas built within the boundaries of the national park. The area had opened in the 1950s and was popular with locals. It was small, with one chairlift, brutally narrow trails and nowhere to slow down.

By the 1970s, it was struggling to compete with the state's larger ski areas. It stayed open two more decades, finally closing in 1992, when the chairlift and the base lodge were removed.

Park administrators began looking for other uses for Hidden Valley and finally decided to restore the area's original wetlands and stream, streamline the parking area and attract sledders with a new warming house, ranger station and heated restrooms.

Hidden Valley covers a 4-acre stretch of hillside. Trees have been removed and fences and foam barriers built to keep sledders in an area free of boulders.

The hill that fans out to a level area in front of the parking lot looks gentle from the bottom. Cope says it's deceiving.

"You stand at the bottom of the snow play area and look at the fence and it looks boring as spit," he says. "You get up there, get on your sled and get a run that takes you past the ranger station, and if you can make the turn, then you get it."

Cope compares the thrill of sledding to driving a fast, low-to-the-ground car.

Brice Hoskin concurs. Hoskin, from Silverton, owns MountainBoy Sledworks, where he makes sleds that hark back to the days of the Flexible Flyer.

In his new book, The Sled Book: Notes Concerning Winter's Favorite Pastime, Hoskin explains the attraction of sledding: "Speed. That's really what sledding is about - barreling downhill, face to the wind and thinking only 'faster, faster."

Sledding "is very much a kid thing," Hoskin says. "It's hard to do it without yelling."

The Silverton sled-maker has made a name for himself with a sled he calls the Ultimate Flyer, a classic-looking beauty with handmade birch planks on the top and custom-made plastic skids on the bottom. But Hoskin believes the appeal of sledding isn't the gear but the simple thrill. "I love the unpretentiousness of it. It's so simple."

And it often invites improvisation. Cope has seen all forms of sleds at Hidden Valley. His favorite? "Someone took two sets of alpine skis and nailed them together with pieces of two-by-fours. You wax that thing, and it's just zoom city."

Hidden Valley

* Where: along Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park

* To get there: From Estes Park, take U.S. 34 or U.S. 36 into the park. At Deer Ridge Junction, head west on 34 to Hidden Valley.

* Fees: A park pass, good for seven days, costs $20 a car.

* Open to: sleds, saucers, other sliding devices. The area above and around Hidden Valley is open to snowboarders, skiers and snowshoers every day. The road is open to Many Parks Curve, above Hidden Valley.

* Lifts: none

* Information: 1-970-586-1206, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily; 1-970-586-1333, 24-hours-a-day recorded message

Where can you experience this safe but exciting adventure?

* Fraser Tubing Hill: Between the towns of Winter Park and Fraser, there's a tubing hill that will knock your wool socks off. Get there via a free shuttle bus from town. The groomed, lighted hill has a tow-lift system. It gets busy, so go early in the day or on weekdays. 1-970-726-5954 or winterpark-info.com

* Copper Mountain: You can hear the screams before you even enter the East Village at Copper Mountain. At the base of the SuperBee Lift, catch the Stinger surface lift for a ride to the top of the tubing hill. This place has groomed "lanes" so many tubers can run at one time. Reservations recommended. 1-866-841-2481 or coppercolorado.com

* Keystone: You have two options at this resort. The old-fashioned family tubing hill is located at the Keystone Nordic Center. For more extreme tubing, catch the lift and hit the summit of Dercum Mountain at Adventure Point. Reservations recommended. 1-970-496-4386 or keystone.snow.com

* Crested Butte: As the light begins to fade, the ski hill transforms into a tubing hill to help extend your day of snow fun. If sledding is your sport, the Nordic Center and Ice Rink complex also offers that. 1-970-349-1707 or 1-800-544- 8448 or skicb.com

* Meadow Mountain/Minturn: Situated between Vail and Beaver Creek, Meadow Mountain in Minturn gets its share of snow. Tubers can ride the lift up to the top of the groomed runs, which are unique in that they include four banked turns. They can strap a group together for a spinning doughnut effect. To warm up, you can buy a bowl of soup, a hot dog, coffee or hot chocolate on site. 1-970-827-4155

* Vail/Adventure Ridge: Snow tubing joins snow-biking, snowshoeing, ice skating, a trampoline and snowmobile rides for kids at this all- purpose activity center. Kids 5 and younger have to ride with an adult. A lift serves the tubing hill, which has multiple lanes. 1-970-476-9090 or vail.com

* YMCA of the Rockies: Both guests and non- guests can take in some family-style tubing at the YMCA of the Rockies' Snow Mountain Ranch, near Granby. It has a lift, and it's an easy run for the very young and the not so very young. 303- 443-4743 or ymcarockies.org

* Snowmass Village: Aspen's neighbor, Snowmass, is perched on a hill, so there are lots of options for free sledding or tubing - provided you brought your own or can find one to borrow or rent. A favorite local spot is the Little Red Schoolhouse - there really is an 1894 schoolhouse there, and yes, it's still in operation. You won't find lifts here, but you will find some good old-fashioned family fun (and exercise).

The Sled Book: Notes Concerning Winter's Favorite Pastime

by Brice Hoskin, $12.95 (Mountaineers Books/Skipstone)

* Why it's worth a read: Hoskin knows sleds. He makes sleds. He rides sleds. This slim volume is an almanac of sorts about all things sledding.

* The best part: It looks as if it's been on your bookshelf since the heyday of the Flexible Flyer in 1915.

* Who should read it: anyone who loves the simple thrill of sledding

Five reasons to visit Rocky Mountain National Park in the winter

1. No crowds. In December 2006, the park had 66,000 visitors. In July 2007, it had 700,000.

2. Great chances to see wildlife. The park's resident elk herds browse in the lower reaches. Snow makes a great canvas for animal-track viewing.

3. Great snow. Many years, the 4-foot-tall trail signs at Bear Lake are buried. The trails are all packed near the trail head, so hiking is easy there, but step off the trail and you might find yourself buried to your hips.

4. Great views. The 113 named peaks higher than 10,000 feet that frame this park are even more spectacular with a thick blanket of snow.

5. Great perks. The promise of beer and Mexican food lies just down the road in Estes Park.

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