By Andrea Rosic
By the time this article makes it into the Breezes the Family Day weekend snowfall will be a distant memory – but not the fun times!
I often say this is the best neighbourhood in Hamilton because it has the two most important elements, people and geography. This epic big air tobogganing session was local, no more than a 500m walk for the kids and no digging our cars out, we just went to the foot of the Mary Street bridge. Not a default sledding spot, but it has all the criteria: good slope, stairs for walking to the top of the hill and a ploughed pathway at the bottom that created a nice natural bump for launching from without having to worry about sliding onto the road. So, it was a pretty sweet spot. None of this fun would have been possible without the right toboggan. We had various sleds at the hill but nothing compared to the performance of the Torpedo! Thanks to one of the dads, the legend of the Torpedo was born. He purchased the vintage Torpedo toboggan second hand and refurbished to its full glory with his son. (Based on what I can tell from a quick internet search, it was likely made in Canada.) They did a full overhaul, sanding, new stain, new grip rope, and painted the trim. It fits three kids comfortably, gains enough speed and has the flex to launch over bumps and fly through the air creating pure joy and elation for the riders! Like I said at the beginning, with the two elements, excellent hills and friends, this is the best place to be on a snowy day in Hamilton!
