sled

A Fjord horse drawing a sleigh.

A sled, sledge, or sleigh is a vehicle that moves by sliding. Usually runners or a smooth underside enable a sled to slide. Sleds are used for transport on surfaces with low friction, usually snow or ice. In some cases however, mud, grass, or even smooth stones make a good surface for sleds.

Types of Sleds

In American English, "sledge" and "sleigh" refer to specific types of sleds. A sledge is usually a rough, sturdy, load-carrying vehicle pulled by draft animals or dogs. A sleigh is typically a partially enclosed vehicle with seats for passengers that is drawn by animals and slides on runners. "Sled" generally refers to a smaller vehicle^[1] and often one that is pulled by a human or propelled only by gravity.

A crude ox-drawn sledge on a mountain road north of Ngcobo.

Sleds for Recreational Sledding

There are several types of widely used recreational sleds designed for sliding down snowy hills (sledding)^[2]. They include:

• the toboggan, an elongated sled with no runners, generally made out of wood or plastic,
• the saucer, a round sled curved like a contact lens, also with no runners and generally made out of plastic or metal,
• the steel runner sled or flexible flyer, a steerable wooden sled with thin metal runners,
• the kicksled or spark, a human-powered sled
• the inflatable sled or tube, a plastic membrane filled with air to make a very lightweight sled,
• and the foam slider, a flat piece of durable foam with handles and a smooth underside.

Sleds for Competitive Sledding

A few types of sleds are used only for a specific sport. These include:

• the bobsled (British bobsleigh), an aerodynamic composite bodied vehicle on lightweight runners,
• and the luge and the skeleton, tiny one or two-person sleds with runners.

Other Sleds

The airboard is an inflatable single-person sled, similar to a hovercraft.

A troika is a vehicle drawn by three horses, usually a sled, but it may also be a wheeled carriage.

A horse drawn sled, Spring Fair, Woolbrook, NSW

Some types of sleds are pulled by animals such as reindeer, horses, mules, oxen or dogs.

Historical Uses

The people of Ancient Egypt are thought to have used sledges extensively in the construction their public works, in particular for the transportation of heavy obelisks.

Man-hauled sledges were the traditional means of transport on British exploring expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Dog sleds were used by most others, such as Roald Amundsen. Today some people use kites to tow exploration sleds in such climes.

An enormous cargo sled being maneuvered by a 10K-AT "Adverse Terrain" forklift at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sledding

• Bobsled
• Luge
• Skeleton
• Ski
• Snowboard
• Snowmobile
• Pulka

References

External links

• North America's Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides