Ice Grass Sledding Slides into St. Louis

St. Louis has its share of unusual sports. A couple of them are native to St. Louis but have spread to other parts of the country. Back in the day there was a game called bottle caps. It was played with a crown bottle cap (the ones that used to come on the old soda bottles and can still be found on some bottles of beer) and a stick. Any old stick would do, maybe a broomstick or a mop handle. One player would sail the bottle cap through the air and the other player would attempt to hit it with the stick. All you had to do was make contact to score a point. Given the size of the bottle cap and its tendency to fly erratically, it wasn't an easy thing to do. And since the game was usually played out in the alley behind the local neighborhood bar and required a copious amount of beer to be consumed to get all those caps, made it all the more difficult.

Another local favorite here in St. Louis is called washers. Washers is sort of like horseshoes, but is played with a metal washer. The idea of the game is to toss the metal washer into a box that is set up some distance away. The game has become so popular that there are a couple of tournaments held each year and custom washers sets are even sold in the local supermarkets.

The latest game rage to hit St. Louis originated in California as far as anyone can tell. St. Louis folks have always enjoyed snow sledding in the wintertime, even though we don't get very much snow. Right in front of the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park sits a very steep hill called appropriately: Art Hill. When there is more than and inch of snow on the ground, Art Hill fills up with people sledding down on everything imaginable. Because of our lack of snow and terrifically hot summers, it only makes sense that St. Louis would latch on to the latest craze: ice grass sledding.

Ice grass sledding (also called ice blocking and reverse sledding) is where you take a large block of ice, put a square of carpet or a towel over it and then ride down a hill. Though it has been banned in some parks around the country as vandalism because it tears up the grass, the city park's department has endorsed it here in St. Louis, at one certain park at least. Throughout the summer there will be several ice grass sledding events at Sioux Passage Park on Old Jamestown Rd. in North County. There will be family events and some reserved for adults. The adult event takes place in June and features food and music and your very own block of ice for $17. The family event is slated for the 25^th of August. Be sure to bring a towel.