SNOW PIERCER

Warner Bros Home Entertainment provided this dad blogger a free Blu-ray. Opinions expressed are my own.

Hasn't been much of a winter when it comes to snow fall this year but a bunch of it has just been dumped on us by some recent storms. Winter weather conditions made today a snow day with our local roads impassible this morning but by the afternoon our local DPW had done an excellent job of digging us out. So my daughter and I bundled up and hit the sledding hill for the first time in awhile. We had a lot of fun getting outside and racing down the slopes!

After we got home it seemed a fitting day to watch this sci-fi tv series I've been wanting to see but couldn't because we cut our cable and it is broadcast on TNT. Now that the first season is available on Blu-ray, I'm finally going to be able to catch up with what is going on in SNOWPIERCER! I'm going to binge watch it tonight after the kids go to bed.

Set almost a decade after the world has become a frozen wasteland, SNOWPIERCER revolves around the remnants of humanity who inhabit a perpetually moving train, with 1,001 cars, that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out in this television adaption of a graphic novel series. Yeah it may seem like a goofy premise but it based upon a comic book full of sci-fi goodness! Plus the show stars Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) and Grammy & Tony Award winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton).

You can pick up SNOWPIERCER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON on Blu-ray or DVD at Best Buy to add to your home entertainment video library. Purchase it via a Geek Daddy affiliate link and this dad blogger will receive a small commission at no additional expense to you. Your support of ageekdaddy.com is appreciated!

Sledding Tips for Snowy Winter Days

Some of my buddies and I got together the other day to watch some football and enjoy a few brews at a local pub when the topic came up that there hasn't been much snow on the ground to allow our kids to go sledding so far this year (sorry if that jinxed our friends impacted by Winter Storm Jonas).  So than it was pondered amongst our group what are the best conditions to enjoy sledding down a snowy hill?  We put the combined brain power of a television weatherman, high school science teacher, automotive engineer, architect, and attorney to the test and here's the consensus on the best sledding conditions for a snowy winter day.


Temperature:

You'd think it would be best to have the weather as cold as possible so that your sledding surface is icy and slick but that is not necessarily the case.  Actually the best temperature to break out the sled is about 29 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit.where it is cold enough that the snow isn't all wet and mushy yet warm enough that the sled's pressure sliding down the hill will melt the flakes underneath it creating a thin film of water to slide down upon.

Our engineering buddy, who also plays rec league hockey, explained that building up speed on a sled is similar to being able to ice skate really fast.  I hadn't realized that when skating people are skimming over water rather than ice.  It was explained to me that a person's weight pushing down against the metal blade of his or her skate creates enough pressure to briefly melt the ice below them. So you are actually sliding over a thin layer of water rather than ice when skating.  This allows people to move quickly while skating because the water they are sliding across is smoother than the surface of ice.  So the goal for picking up speed when sledding to get the best experience rushing down a snow covered hill should be to create enough pressure with your weight against a sled's surface to create a sheen of water to slide on.

The Type of Snow Matters:

It's not just the temperature that can impact the quality of the snow you sled down.  Your sledding experience can be impacted from the point when the snow first starts falling down from the sky.   You may want to look at a thermometer when the snow first starts falling because that temperature also impacts whether or nor you'll have ideal sledding conditions.  If the weather is too cold you are going to have grainy snow flakes and if it is too warm there will be fluffy ones.  Both grainy and fluffy snow create friction against a sled slowing it down so that you won't be setting any speed records racing down a hill.  According to my meteorologist friend, what you want to look out for are the "large flakes" that form when the temperature is in the range of 25 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit.  These large flakes compact well providing a perfect surface to sled on.

Choose a Steep Hill:

Even with the best weather conditions if the hill isn't steep enough you aren't going anywhere fast.  The high school science teacher in our midst reminded us GRAVITY trumps everything else when it comes to getting the fastest speeds on a sled.  The steeper the hill someone sleds down the more gravity there is to pull them down to the bottom.

Our Perfect Sledding Thesis:

So our thesis is for the optimal sledding experience you'll want to look out for when it is snowing with the temperature at about 25 degrees Fahrenheit and find the steepest hill you can sled down after it has stopped snowing and warmed up a bit to 30 degrees Fahrenheit.  That's not it though...you or someone else needs to sled the hill a few times to compact the snow creating a defined path for your sled to skim down. Then you have reached sledding perfection!

Picking a Sled:

Oh wait...there is one more thing to consider.  The sled!  Now we've determined the perfect conditions to race down a snow covered hill what should be our vessel.  An old-fashioned rosebud sled, a taboggan, an inner tube, or a long hull plastic flyer (which are the ones my kids actually have)?  After another round of beers the consensus came down to the plastic saucer style.  These allow riders to place the most weight within the smallest area of space which increases the pressure while they are sliding to create the most heat on the snow allowing for the desired hydroplaning effect to provide the best speeds down a hill.

Now keep in mind these are just the discussions of some guys enjoying a drink at the bar but if you get the chance we'd enjoy hearing if you tested out our thesis on how to get the best sledding experience on a snow covered hill.  Remember too that sledding is a great outdoor activity to do during the winter months and you don't need the best conditions to enjoy a perfect experience having fun in the snow.

Best Tips for a Fun Day on the Sledding Hill

It has been a mild winter until Mother Nature brought us more than 2 feet of snow and a few snow days off from work and school to go along with it this month.  Of course rather than stay huddled up in the house our family bundled up and traversed over to the neighborhood park for some sledding fun.  Here are a few tips to make sure your day out on the snowy slopes are a blast and not a bust:

 Know the Temperature Before You Go

The ideal temperature is 29 to 30 degrees - you really don't want to sled on ice or snow but rather water.  Yes WATER!!!  At that temperature the friction from your sled should melt the snow to create a thin film of water on which to sail down the hill.  This will help you get the fastest speeds out of your sled.

Don't believe me?  Think of ice skaters.  They place their weight on the blades of a skate which creates pressure on ice briefly melting its surface so the skater can move quickly over a thin layer of water which is much smoother than the ice itself.  Wow you just have to love physics!

When it comes to snow, you aren't looking for fluffy or grainy but rather flaky.  The large flakes that originate when it snows at temperatures between 25 and 28 degrees compacts the best for sledding.

Make sure before you go out that you check both the temperature and wind chill factor.  Be cautious of hypothermia and frostbite that can come on quickly and without a lot of warning in the cold.  Kids should always be properly dressed to avoid skin contact with snow and frigid air.  If you see a child shivering that means it is time to come inside out of the cold to warm up.  CLICK HERE for a ton of useful information regarding cold weather injuries that impact children from aboutkidshealth.

Know Your Hill

While a little friction will help your slide down the hill, gravity is what really gets you going.  So the steepness of the hill has the biggest impact on how fast you can get racing down it.

Being familiar with a hill's surroundings in advance will be a great help in knowing of obstacles and hazards to avoid that may be hidden by snow until some unfortunate sledder crashes into them.  Knowing in advance where a ditch, tree stump, pond, or fire hydrant may be located is a proactive way to avoid a problem later.  We go sledding on a hill at a local park that we also frequent during the summer so that we're pretty familiar with the landscape and surrounding even when everything is covered in snow.

A used path provides the best path.  Riders who take turns and share space will have the best compacted snow for a smooth, fast ride down the hill.  Don't walk back up the hill on your sledding path as you want to keep the track smooth and not interfere with oncoming sledders (which is a concept I just can't seem to get to stick in my son's head).

Know your preferred hill in advance also helps know what type of sled is the best to bring with you.  Snow discs and inflatable tubes are best for wide open lazy slopped surfaces because you can't control their direction and these have a tendency to fly up in the air when hitting bumps.  For steeper surfaces and more confined spaces traditional sled designs and toboggans are more well suited.  Never using a plastic sheet, cardboard box or cafeteria tray as a make shift sled is a common warning you'll get from health care professionals when it comes to sledding.


Safety First

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics more than 20,000 kids per year end up in the emergency room with injuries from sledding each year.  No one wants to dampen a good time with a visit to an emergency room so make sure to make safety a priority when on the sledding hill.  While sledding down a hill head first may be a thrill, that is the number one no-no pediatricians have when they warn about dangers associated with sledding.  Sled with feet forward so if a collision occurs a head injury is less likely.  Pediatricians also recommend children under 5 should ride with an adult.

Conduct a walk through of the landing area before kids start sledding into it to make sure there aren't any hidden hazards like fallen tree branches, trash, fences or any other obstacle that could be hidden under the snow and cause a collision.

Make sure kids know not to crash into one another and to avoid walking or sledding into the path of others whether going up or down the hill.  Insuring children know how to ditch a sled if they believe they are going to collide with another sled or an obstacle like a tree is also important.  The best way to get off is to roll off sideways and let the sled keep going versus trying to jump out or stop the sled with hands or feet.

Parental supervision and PARTICIPATION is always important!

Don't hide from winter, embrace it! Grab a sled and go have some fun in the snowy weather!

Warming up to Winter

I have to admit that despite being known as a “kid at heart” with my friends and family when it comes to winter with its snow, ice and cold temperatures I’ve become somewhat of a scrooge.  I used to love snow days where I’d spend hours sledding down the neighborhood's boat ramp onto the icy lake by our house or spend the afternoon in battle royal snow ball fights with all the kids on the block celebrating a day off from school.  As an adult though, I’ve found myself with more of a Bah Humbug attitude when it comes to the winter.  I’m not actually sure what led to this digression of attitude. Was it the bone chilling walks to class in college, the long commutes to work surrounded by people who are either too scared to or too reckless to drive safely on icy roads, or maybe the next door neighbor who snow blows everything in his driveway directly into the road so that the city snowplow piles it up blocking my garage that changed my attitude?  It doesn’t really matter; I had lost my childhood appreciation of snow days.

Then it snowed over this Christmas holiday.  This was the first time since my children were born we’ve had a thick enough snow fall to go out and play in it and we really took advantage of it!  The kids made snow angels, I helped my son build his very first snow man, and we spent a day sledding at a local park.  I was reminded by my children about the magic of a snow day and how I had loved winter myself as a child.  During these recent snow days, I was able to help my son and daughter enjoy a childhood love of winter and we created some cherished memories that everyone in our family is always going to appreciate.  Do I love winter again now? NO, but I am warming up to it!

What are your favorite winter activities? Are there any special or unique things you do on snow days with your children? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.