Banzai Sledding is the New Extreme Winter Sport

Sledding, in most cases, is a relatively benign pastime, a frolicsome undertaking that serves as a common theme in Norman Rockwell paintings. But you can perk it up a little. With equal parts imagination and recklessness you can introduce the threat of serious injury-that icing on the cake of life-and transform your ordinary, everyday sledding excursion into a Banzai Sledding session.

In terms of equipment, there are really only three requirements. First, snow. Lots of it.

Secondly, a hill. The ideal hill would be about 300 feet long with varying pitches along its face, perhaps a thinly covered rock outcropping or two, and plenty of trees or a barbed-wire fence at the bottom. Or, better yet, an angry bull. What you want is speed, speed, speed, slopes that will knock you off-balance, and something dangerous to run into. One of the best sledding venues I found had a hemlock grove with a fine tangle of low-hanging branches at its base. Even if you failed to slam into one of the tree trunks, you still had to run a prickly gauntlet.

If the only hill near you is a straight, smooth slope with a long, safe run-out, it will be up to you to make it appropriately dangerous. Try heaving cinder blocks, or, after the holidays, abandoned Christmas trees, randomly along its course. Or build a series of moguls and jumps. It's more work, but well worth the effort.

One memorable experience I had was at Arnold Arboretum in Boston, which has a fine, crowded hill. My friend Chris and I spent an afternoon there several years ago amidst a horde of other niveophiles. But late that night, after an overly-bibulous evening, we talked a couple of female friends into returning with us to the hill and doing some moonlight sledding. Alas, there was no moon, so we did not notice that the service road at the bottom of the hill had been plowed sometime between the afternoon and midnight. When we hit the bottom of the hill we launched over the berm pushed up by the plow and landed in a freshly scraped asphalt roadway. I broke my glasses and one of the girls had a bloody lip; and although the other girl made no complaints, she showed up at work the next day on crutches.

The only other requirement-and it isn't always necessary, as we will see-is a sled. Banish all thoughts of fancy L.L. Bean toboggans, metal-runnered sleds, and those plastic contraptions shaped like spaceships. Forget about inner tubes and inflatable rafts and air-mattresses. The only acceptable sled is the plastic saucer.

The saucer is the only craft that denies its rider any form of control, and a lack of control is one of the keys to rewarding sledding. Anything elongated will tend to move in a straight line, which is for sissies. And runnered sleds and toboggans are steerable, for heaven'. A saucer moves equally well in all directions, allowing you to careen off a pine tree with only a slight loss of momentum (and if you collide with an angry bull you'll want to be careening as fast as possible). Since a saucer can't be steered, you can't wimp out and start dodging obstacles. Inflatable vehicles absorb shocks, when the aim is to transmit every bump and jolt directly to your pelvis and spinal column. And your saucer must be plastic, not metal. Metal saucers can be used as shields; if a plastic saucer is put to such a cowardly use it will shatter.

For better speed you can spray the bottom of your saucer with silicone. Purists will want to remove any handles as well.

Warm and waterproof clothing is common sense, but everything else-gloves, goggles, a first-aid kit, a fifth of brandy-is optional.

Technique is a matter of personal preference and the area where innovation should be pursued with gusto, but to get you started I will a mention a few that I have found worthwhile.

Most people go sledding in groups. The most basic group is, of course, you and your girlfriend (or boyfriend, or spouse, or insurance agent), and while it is difficult to go out of control with only two people, it can be done. Try sitting together on one saucer facing each other. This will not only prevent either of you from seeing where you're going, but if one of you drops a foot after you've built up some downhill speed you can go into a wonderful spin that's good for a few screams. You can also sit one behind the other, each on his or her own saucer, the one in front holding the other's feet. Though this tends to give longitudinal direction, you can always drop a foot for a slow-motion spin effect.

Larger groups are more fun. Any number of variations are possible, but there are a few old standbys. The Long Chain will be familiar to most everyone: your group lines up, one in front of the other, grasping the legs of the person behind, and off you go. Momentum builds slowly, but once you have it there's no stopping, and if there are any obstacles a safe distance from the end of the run-out, you'll usually have enough speed to plow into them. If the hill is long enough your Long Chain can develop a Sway, in which your line begins snaking in an S-curve that gradually worsens until the chain breaks apart and you all spill willy-nilly down to the bottom, crashing into each other along the way.

The Wide Chain, in which everyone sits side by side with arms linked, is very effective. This one is great fun on crowded hills and is best done immediately after another large group has made the descent. Quickly line up your saucers perpendicular to the fall line, link arms, and take off, whooping as loudly as possible. The impression created for those at the bottom of the hill is that of a tsunami rolling toward them. If your line is wide enough and you have enough speed, there will be no escape. You can savor the look of terror on your victims' faces as they realize they're about to get creamed. Though retribution in kind is most common, you should be prepared for fist fights and lawsuits.

Another group variation is the Star. Everyone links arms to form a circle, with all feet facing outward. This formation isn't as fast as the Chain, but it can lead to some spectacular pile-ups at the bottom.

Perhaps the most dramatic group approach is Kamikaze style. Everyone in the group goes solo, but in rapid-fire succession, like a bloodthirsty band of Sioux warriors bearing down on a peaceful and undefended camp. Dogfighting should be encouraged on the descent, and if you can manage to go into a spin with your legs fully extended you'll be a lethal weapon.

If all your friends are vacationing in Florida, or if you grow weary of other people's painful whining, try solo sledding. A good opening run is Superman style: belly down on the saucer, legs extended backwards, arms out sideways-you're flying! If the hill is as bumpy as it should be you can bruise vital internal organs, but even on smooth slopes this is an amusing technique.

Much more fun is the Hard Spin. Sit in any position on the saucer, but try to pull yourself into as compact a ball as you can manage, and as you head down the slope plant one hand and pull, thereby sending yourself into a spin. As you complete one revolution plant and pull again, and keep this up as far down the slope as possible. One advantage to the Hard Spin is that when you are approaching an obstruction (tree, another sledder, a cliff) you see it only once every second or so and each time it's ten feet closer, which makes it difficult to estimate the point of, and brace yourself for, impact. The disorientation you feel at the end of the run is also a great benefit: it becomes very difficult to stand and dodge any oncoming sledders.

The most difficult and therefore most satisfying solo style is the Surf. It's hard enough to stay on your saucer (if you're Banzai sledding), much less to stand up on one, but if you can make it down even a few feet of a good hill standing, you'll feel like you skied Mount Everest or surfed the Pipeline at Waikiki.

The timid will set the saucer down, stand up face forward, and try to shuffle the saucer forward, but the jerky motion makes it difficult to develop any real momentum. The experienced Banzai sledder gives the saucer a light toss at the top of the slop, chases it down, then hops on with one foot forward. Wheeee! Your tendency, if you can stay up at all, will be to spin slightly until you're facing uphill, which immediately puts you face down in the snow. Try to maintain the foot forward position and lean down the hill.

Surfing can also be done without a sled if the hill is steep enough, the snow is well-packed, and you can get a running start. Dress shoes with smooth leather soles are best for this. But kids: don't used your dad's shoes, even if they fit. You can find a cheap pair of dress shoes at most thrift stores.

One reason I like the Surf Style is because it's great fun when it works and great fun when it doesn't. You will always fall, and falls from a standing position, sled or no sled, are spectacular. Bone-jolting flips, high-speed rolls, and spasmodic face-plants are standard.

So the next time the snow invites you to the nearest hill for an afternoon of fun, go a little crazy.

Suddenly the sun breaks through the overcast and a hawk soars across the far horizon. You give your saucer a desultory toss on the snow, then like a howling, mead-crazed Berserker you leap on and ride! Down, down, faster and faster-you stay on over the bump-scream down the dip-going, going-another bump-start to spin at the top of the run-out-slowly turning-hold on, hold on!-but you lose your balance, do a double back-flip roll, slam sideways into a small maple tree, and lay there in the snow, gazing up at the sky and tasting the salt of your own blood.

You will earn the admiration of the adults who gather to check your pulse, the awe and adulation of the gawking children, and who knows-maybe you'll meet a cute nurse at the hospital?