When you’re young, sledding down an icy hill can be thrilling, even if you choose to go down sledless. Hitting bumps hard means extra bonus points, and there is no such thing as emergency trips to the chiropractor the next day. As you age though, sledding can be a lot more painful than it used to be. But that doesn’t mean that you have to stop sledding cold turkey. Instead, just upgrade your ride to the cushy, shock-absorbing Bean Bag Sled.
This is the soft-riding sled suggestive of riding down a snow-covered slope on a tube-shaped bean bag. Significantly reducing the effect of bumps on the lower back, the sled’s interior has an inflatable air bladder (requires hand pump) surrounded by thousands of 2mm polystyrene spheres-the same filling used in bean bags for lounging. Designed in Italy’s Abruzzo region, its top and sides are made from double-stitched PVC-coated 100% polyester that endures repeated seasons of winter use while its underside is a mesh of double-coated PVC that provides a slick surface ideal for packed snow, ensuring a minimum of friction for thrilling downhill runs. Turns are performed by leaning to either side while grabbing the strap which attaches to two D-rings located in each front corner. Supports riders up to 220 lbs. 63″ L x 15″ W x 13 1/4″ H. (13 lbs.)
Even though this thing weighs 13 pounds, you’ll want to drag it back up the hill again and again to experience that exhilarating feeling you had way back when. Then when it’s break time, you’ll have a nice bean bag to cradle your hiney. Ah, imagine an afternoon of sledding followed by hot cocoa and marshmallows. I don’t think sledding gets any better than this, folks. Ok, well if it was designed in Italy, maybe they could’ve added an option for heated seats.
The sled accommodates 220 lbs. so that means one big adult at a time, or two lighter adults at once. Three small kids could probably easily ride with no problem. When the beads start popping out, you know you’ve gone over. Just kidding, the bean bag is probably very durable because it is backed by Hammacher Schlemmer’s Lifetime Guarantee.
The Bean Bag Sled is ready to order at Hammacher Schlemmer for $299.95.
Now that winter has begun, here are some other fun ways to zoom down a hill: the Snow Boogie Inflatable Sleds and the Zipfly Sled.