Slip on your snow boots, knock on your neighbors’ doors and clear the cobwebs off your sleds because it’s sledding season.

Winter: when kids get chased off of private property that contains the best hills and kicked out of the sloping terrain at Birchwood Country Club for improper sledding conduct.

“All you need is a good slope and some snow,” Sam Reach ’14 said.

Well.  Most people do at least.

“My friends and I really love to sled,” Lauren Garcia ’15 said. “Even when there isn’t snow, we sled down hills.  We get really dirty, but it’s worth it.”

The love everyone has for sledding builds up during the seasons that lead up to winter.

The few months that sledding enthusiasts pine for all year have arrived.

How to prepare for the first flurry?  Well, for novice sledders, these experts offer tips.

“It’s all about technique,” Griffin Thrush ’15 said.  “I’m all about speed, and, if someone’s beating me down the hill, it’s back to the drawing board to tweak the toboggan, as they say.”

According to Thrush, sledders should develop their own techniques as their experience builds.  Thrush’s technique includes arching his back while applying pressure to the sled with his upper shoulders.  “It creates a solid downward force, and with a center of gravity like mine, speed is the only option,” Thrush said.

Lauren Chasnow ’17 knows a few places that offer different types of rides, depending on the mood.  “If you’re looking for a steep hill, Greens Farms Elementary School is really popular.”

Sledders can find a more diverse terrain at either Long Shore Golf Course or Birchwood Country Club. Both offer longer and less steep hills.

And, of course, there’s also always the thrill of building jumps in the backyard.

This way, the cup of hot chocolate waiting inside is just a couple of icy steps away.