Backyard Sled Launcher

Winter in Montana is pretty much the opposite of any season in Santa Cruz, so we want to give the girls as many opportunities to enjoy it as possible.  We have taken them sledding in the mountains a couple times already, but they can't get enough.

Sledding at the Bridger Bowl ski resort in November

That said, we can't take them out to a sled hill every time they get a hankering for some downhill fun.

Over the summer, I asked the framing carpenters at the construction site next door if I could scavenge material from their trash trailer, which they gladly accepted.  I built some shelves for our storage shed with it, but had some left.

So I built a sled launcher!

The horizontal deck is 42" from the ground and the sled run is about 72" long and 24" wide.  It is pretty basic construction that wouldn't win any awards, but it was cheap, considering all I bought was the screws!

I finished it a week ago during the warm snap.  Last night and this morning we finally got the big snow that we needed to make it work!  As I shoveled the back sidewalk this morning, I threw the snow at the base, to make a smoother transition.  

Addi and Lydia (Anne is traveling with Kaylee's mom) tried it out today with their neighbor friends: