Snowracer - adventure for toddler and parent
By
on
December 20th, 2005
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This winter
Winter is a long season in Sweden. Here in Stockholm it's not too bad but further up north you've got winter from October until April. Winter in Stockholm is usually kind of lame with a little bit of snow and temperatures mostly in the -5 to +5 range (Centigrade). But a little snow is enough for any kid to have lots of fun. And Swedes are not known to be wimps. Kids here are outside every day, regardless of weather. Rain, snow, or -20 Centigrade are no problems. No weather stops the kids from playing outside. And schools would never do such a stupid thing as close because it's too cold. Just make sure you've got proper winter clothing.
Last winter we introduced a young Daniel to a "pulka". Basically a plastic sled with some extra support for the back. We pulled him everywhere in this sled and he loved it. Moderately fast and lots of fun. Daniel is now a year older, approaching 22 months, and we are kicking it up a notch or two. As you can see there is a slight difference in the winter pictures from last year compared to this year. Let me introduce the ultimate winter toy - SNOW RACER!
The snow racer looks like a super sled. It's meant to carry one passenger but has enough room for two. Even enough room for Daddy and kid at the same time! Built of lightweight but strong aluminum with low friction ski's and steering made for sharp turns, it's one lean mean racing machine. It's supposed to be used by kids 3+ but we're disregarding that recommendation…..
I must admit that Daddy has been more excited than Daniel. Perhaps because he didn't know what this weird looking machine really was. Since partial assembly was required, Daniel "helped" me put the racer together. Colors are beautiful, black and red, just like a little kids sports car. After it was finished he took it for a spin - in the apartment. Thank God he's a gentle kid. First test drive took place same night right after assembly. It was actually only 6 Pm but pitch black, that's Sweden in the winter. Believe it or not but we got a ski slope within a two minute walk from our place. I don't know of any other city that can offer such great locations as Stockholm. The ski slope Hammarbybacken with lift and glorious views of the city within a two minute walk, dense forest equally close, but still only 3 miles or 15 minutes with bike (or bus) from city center. On top of that everything you might ever need nearby.
Anyway, first test drive was a huge success. The little bunny slope behind our place was enough to reach scary speeds. Fortunately the sled is wide and very stable which makes flipping over very difficult. I know the sled is fast but relax, I'm being very careful with our son. As I pull Daniel up the little slope and start to turn around I can see the smile on his face. As I let him go he's whole face is a huge smile. After a while Daniel wants to pull the sled with the built in cable instead of riding. He pulls it with no problem at all and gets irritated after a while. He now wants me to get on the snow racer. Sounds a bit cruel for a parent to be pulled by his 21 month 26 pound child but I play along. I sit down and laugh. Turns out Daniel has no problem at all pulling me on the sidewalk for a couple of hundred yards. This sledge is really easy and fast! You should have seen the looks from the people we met. Imagine a small toddler laughing his ass off while pulling his 190 pound father on a kid sled. Everyone just smiled and shook their heads.
After trying out the bunny slope we moved on over to the real slope. The ski slope by our house even got a lift but it's still small. But going from the top of the hill with the snow racer would result in frightening speeds. I wouldn't even do that alone with proper safety equipment. It's enough to drag Daniel up 20 yards and then let him go. He simply loves it and rides with a big smile all the way down. When I finally catch him at the bottom he keeps saying "ma, ma, ma" which is his way of saying more, more, more (from the Spanish word "mas"). We do some more rides and then try to head home. And I must point out the word try. Getting a kid off the snow racer is not as easy as it sounds. He wants to ride on it, then pull it, then have Daddy on it, and basically try out every little hill in the area. And of course he wants to go in every direction except to wards home. I don't blame him. If I was a kid I would have acted exactly the same way.
This winter looks promising. Looks like lots of fun for both father and son. And we still haven't tried riding our new upgraded adult pulka……..
Those are the cutest pictures! He looks like he’s having so much fun! What a great sled; it almost makes me want to give snow another try. :)
I am trying to get away for 3 days with my 5 year old son in late feb. My son has never seen real snow ( even in english weather). If I was to stay in central Stockholm, how far are the slopes and could you give advice re hotels, locations, taxi etc… anything.
Thanks. Not comment exactly
Dec 21st, 2005 at 2:34 pm
[…] AdventureDad « Snowracer - adventure for toddler and parent […]
Nov 4th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
[…] Posted on Saturday 4 November 2006 Family Fun In Cold Weather Canon EOS 20D, 17-40 L, ISO 100 I love this photo because of the colors, my happy family members, and the fact that it's taken outdoors during the beginning of winter. This is a typical weekend for us or a typical after-day-care day for Sandra. Strolling around outside with friends, visiting parks in the neighborhood, and later on in winter, riding the snow racer. Annika usually in the all-weather Baby Björn, facing forward and learning about life. Daniel in his winter outfit, smiling as usual, and enjoying whatever activities we come up with. Families in Sweden, especially kids, spend a tremendous amount of time outdoors. Both at day-care and privately. Swedish people are no wimps. Well, actually us people from the very northern part of Sweden think the people of Stockholm and further south are crybabies. They whine and complain as soon as they see a snowflake or it's below 0 degrees C (32 degrees F). And the climate here is relatively mild to be a Nordic country. Us northerners are very much like the Vikings. I grew up with at least 8 feet of snow the whole winter and regular temperatures of -20 to -30 degrees C (-4 to -22 F). That makes you strong mentally. The saying we have is "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing". Perhaps that's why the children in Sweden are outside regardless or rain, snow, or cold temperatures. Maybe that's also why the kids are so healthy. Schools never close. 3 feet of snow and -25 is no reason for keeping the kids at home. I love being outside with the kids because they have so much fun. It sure beats having the kids watch five hours of useless DVD's on the couch every day. The winter is just getting started but Daniel is already talking about playing in the snow. With a little luck we'll get as much snow as last winter which equals a fantastic winter season for the children. At least for us northerners:-)) […]
Jan 8th, 2007 at 11:47 am
[…] Daniel And His Snowracer Canon Powershot SD500, ISO 50 Daniel loves snow. Too bad we don't have any. It's unbelievably warm in Sweden. Today we're looking at +8 (45 F) or so and green grass. The photo above is from exactly one year ago when we got lots of snow and kept in for many months. And we had a blast. The Snowracer and his plastic sled are favorites during the snow filled months in Sweden. Don't get too excited and mention the global warming epidemic which I think is bullshit. At least we won't know if it's true or not for another 10 000 years or so. People who know much more than I do estimate that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. And we are declaring global warming after a few years of milder temperatures? Please. Many countries, especially U.S., China, and Russia, are for sure poisoning the earth with all kinds of crap but we won't know until later how much effect that has on the climate. Temperatures on earth went up and down much more than today hundreds or thousands or years ago. And back then there were no industries . Regardless of the reasons for the warm weather, we miss the snow here in Sweden. We love that we have all four seasons although the winters are a bit dark. Especially without snow. Our son can be out for hours playing games in the snow. The games usually involve his father pulling him around the neighborhood, several times, up and down the many different slopes. I do it with pleasure, it's so satisfying seeing my son have fun in the snow. Wimps People from other countries like Latin America always point out how surprised they are over of how much time our kids spend outside. Our saying is "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing". We do dress our kids in warm clothing that doesn't get wet. They are outside regardless if it's raining, snowing, or -15 C (5 F). Just bring it on. Fresh air is great and the kids usually love it outside. Plus, putting the kids to sleep at night after a few hours in he snow is not too difficult…. Perhaps the mild winter means we will have snow in June? I seriously doubt it but we do want some snow. And soon. Please!?? […]
Jan 26th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
[…] Posted on Friday 26 January 2007 This week I went from looking like a complete idiot to an amazing forward looking father in a couple of short hours. Like the rest of the world, we've had unbelievable warm weather hear in Sweden this winter. After a large snowstorm in November, which blew away in a day, we've had green grass and above zero (C) temperatures every day. But not any longer, we've got snow! Lots of snow! It's time for parents to dig out every child's favorite toy, the Snowracer, and head for the hills. Seeing children have fun in the snow is amazing. That special look in their eyes which tells of sheer joy is so uplifting and inspiring. One of my (many?) weaknesses as a father is indoor playing. I'm no nature fanatic that needs to constantly hug trees but I find it so much easier to have fun outdoors here in Sweden. I guess I'm not creative enough indoors. There seem to be endless possibilities as soon as I open the door and step outside. Me and my son are well known for being unpredictable on our outings. We might end up playing around the corner, go for a 30K bike ride, head to the train station for hours, go look at heavy machinery in action, or end up on a playground at the other part of town. We're always prepared for anything and usually have a blast. Saturday was a cold day and as I walked around the neighborhood with the kids I noticed that they were making artificial snow in the ski slope behind our house. We live only 3 miles from the center of the city but got a small ski slope with a few lifts a short walk away. Daniel has been missing snow so I suggested a few rides with the Snowracer in the evening. To say that he was excited would be understatement of the year. As we walked towards the ski slope parents looked at me with a strange look. Where was this crazy parent going with the Snowracer? There is not a snowflake anywhere, is he gonna ride on the grass? We reached the ski slope and my son was in heaven. There was artificial snow blowing everywhere despite only a few hours of operation. We rode for a couple of hours and then it started snowing. A lot. We decided to go for dinner before continuing our adventures. As we reached the restaurant 15 minutes later the street was covered by a couple of inches of snow. All kids looked jealously at us as we pulled up in front of the restaurant with my son on the Snowracer. I was no longer looking like an idiot, parents were now wondering how I managed to be out so quickly in the fresh snow. After some more riding after dinner I had to more or less force my son to go home after promising him to play in the snow the next day. Which proved to be damn hard work. Try running up and down a ski slope 26 times with a toddler and then get back to me. My son's first words the next day at 7 am was "SNOW!!!". There was a foot of wet snow on the ground just waiting for us. I quickly headed out with both Annika and Daniel while wife rested at home. I looked like quite a determined parent as I headed outside with the MBUD stroller in the snowstorm. There I was with Annika in the Baby Björn, pushing the stroller with one hand, and pulling Daniel on the Snowracer with the other hand. In a foot of snow. After half an hour my daughter was sleeping in the carriage and I was silently thanking God that the MBUD stroller is so great. Snow, sand, gravel, mud, it doesn't matter. It just keeps on going. Plus it's light, strong, and folds flat. I did meet another parent struggling to go outside with his single Bugaboo, the stroller which I refer to as a joke. He got about 10 feet and had to turn around. That stroller can't handle anything except flat surfaces. I smiled at him as I cruised along the street with my son on the Snowracer. We continued to explore the slopes in our neighborhood. Wherever we went there were kids building snow castles, rolling around the snow, and testing just how fast a Snowracer can go. We met new kids everywhere and of course we invited them to play with us. As wife turned up around lunch I had Annika in the Baby Björn and was pulling Daniel and two other strangers on our Snowracer. I got some weird looks from the boss as she saw me but before I knew it she was tearing up the slopes with Daniel. The Swedish way of raising kids is very laid back. Sometimes too laid back. One thing I do like is that we give our kids a chance to experience many things and are not afraid of nature. We give them plenty of space to explore and make their own mistakes. Because of the climate we really don't have a choice of only going outside when it's warm, sunny, and bright. Our beliefs are mostly " there is no such things as bad weather, just bad clothing". Which has the great benefit of not forming our children into spoiled little shits. Our kids wear good clothing to keep them warm and dry. I talked about this briefly last year and concluded that children wear mostly Goretex clothing from head to toe. It's not cheap but the value of avoiding kids with a constant cold is priceless. Plus the kids look cute as hell! Have A Nice Weekend Filled With Fun In The Snow! […]
Feb 15th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
[…] times. But the safety thinking is always there regardless if we're discussing a car seat, snowracer, baby crib, or stroller. The overall message is that kids are our number one priority. […]
Nov 16th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
[…] and bus into town during weekends. Baby Björn, Mountain Buggy Urban Double, a bicycle in summer or snowracer in winter, plus two kids, was always quite an adventure. My son loves trains so we would hang out […]
Jan 7th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
[…] I've ever met. It's winter here in Sweden and that means lots of rides with the Snowracer. Turns out it's not only my son who loves this toy. My daughter is crazy about it […]
Apr 26th, 2008 at 7:06 am
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