Admittedly, sledding stops being fun at a certain age, and what used to be a thrill is now a good way to get snow down your pants. Here’s a list of some of the city’s hills that make me question what exactly made me want to spend every day of Winter Break walking up a hill just so that I could slowly slide down it again.

Edina High School: Having never hit this school slope until recently, I always assumed it was the best hill for sledding in Edina due to its sheer length and angle. Under ideal circumstances, it probably is. The day I went was unfortunately not ideal. The snow was just powdery enough to make it feel like you were going to get in a good run, and then suddenly the nose of your sled has attempted to Tasmanian Devil its way down the rest of the hill. After a few embarrassing takes, I had packed down enough snow to get in a full ride. The hill started out steep and then moved into a second, even steeper stage to quickly shoot me across the bottom of the valley. While the speed was exhilarating, the issue was in the weeds. The wild grasses that cover the hill remain tall and proud in winter, and don’t mind repeatedly whipping you in the face at top speed. Now at the bottom, I looked back and saw what I had to walk back up. Although there is a staircase, if you are sledding in certain sections of the hill, you are forced to make the climb up the hill, with your knees becoming completely submerged in icy powder with every step.

Normandale Park: In my younger days I remember spending a lot of time at Normandale. It does seem to offer the biggest challenge, sledding-wise. The hillside is littered with trees and usually a few good jumps are built at the bottom, so depending on who you are you either put all your effort into avoiding or hitting all these obstacles. Upon returning recently at an older age, I realized how boring it actually is. The hill starts out extremely flat and only gets a little steep towards the end. Even if when I was young I felt that I had to slalom through the trees, in reality there are only two trees that pose any threat, and they are pretty evenly spaced. The climb back up is just as bad if not worse than the high school, and the ride over all isn’t as fun. As much as it ruins my childhood, this place just isn’t as fun as it used to be.

Creek Valley Elementary School: It must be high traffic that makes this hill what it is. Not only is it a perfect intermediate length for climbing back up and still getting a decent ride in, but the snow itself seems in much better condition. The hill is probably about as steep as the top of the hill at EHS, but even with all the fresh power around on the day I went, the hill was slick and packed down from heavy usage, allowing for speeds even faster than those at the high school.