Night sledding

In addition to warm clothing including gloves and a scarf, two things are especially important: sturdy shoes with good soles and a helmet. For the darkness, a headlamp pays off. Often you can rent it together with the sled. Safe equipment includes the following items in detail:

• ski helmet
• ski goggles with a bright lens
• warm ski gloves
• warm winter clothing such as ski suit
• sturdy shoes (hiking boots, winter boots with a non-slip sole), no ski boots or sneakers!
• for rapid routes a back protector

Ski helmets, headlamps and back protectors can also be rented. Especially for fast descending routes, you should - in your own interest - wear appropriate equipment.

As a rule, sledding runs are sufficiently illuminated as soon as night sledding is scheduled. But unfortunately, this is not true for all sledding runs. In these cases, it is recommended to put on a headlamp. Often these can be rented at the toboggan runs along with the necessary helmet and other equipment.

Usually, sleds and toboggans are rented directly at the toboggan run or at the stations. If you reserve or book your tobogganing equipment in advance, it will be ready for you on site.

Restaurants and ski bars located directly before, after or along the night sledding slope are usually open. They often offer special dishes like fondue or hot drinks like mulled wine for night sledding.

No, dogs are strictly forbidden on the toboggan runs as a rule. However, there is one exception: The sledding mountain Fideriser Heuberge allows dogs during sledding and in the mountain huts. Good training is a prerequisite. Other people must not be inconvenienced or harmed by them.

Yes, almost all toboggan runs have their own safety instructions for night sledding. If you bring your own sledding equipment, please check beforehand whether this is allowed. Many tracks only allow wooden sledges and toboggans for night sledging. However, there are also tracks that explicitly allow plastic bobs, airboards or skigibles. Also, on many toboggan runs, children are only allowed to toboggan when accompanied by adults or older siblings. The Berne Council for Accident Prevention (https://www.bfu.ch/api/publications/bfu_3.001.01_schlitteln%20%E2%80%93%20sicher%20in%20fahrt.pdf) has issued rules of conduct for sledding:

• Be considerate of others (do not endanger others)
• Adjust speed and riding style to your own ability, do not ride head first and do not tie sleds or toboggans together
• Respect the lane of the person in front
• Overtake with distance (right and left allowed, look up before entering and starting (after a stop) (do not pose a danger to others)
• stop at the edge (not in dangerous or blind places), leave the slope quickly after a fall
• get on and off at the edge, never walk on the slope
• observe signs, markings, signalization
• giving assistance in case of accidents is obligatory
• give personal details in case of accidents, also as a witness

Sleds are more immobile than toboggans and difficult to steer because of the rigid construction. The flat runners provide a large contact surface on the snow. Since the runners and the actual wooden construction are firmly connected to each other, the runners are always perpendicular to the ground. Steering works only in connection with braking by the foot. This also makes a sled slower overall than a toboggan. Tight turns are practically impossible to drive. Compared to the sled, toboggans have a flexible frame. Toboggans are steered precisely by shifting the body and pulling the steering rope. Even tight turns can be made with the toboggan and there is no loss of speed due to foot braking. The curved runners provide a small contact surface on the snow and thus less resistance.