The Chair, the Handlebar, and Riding

Blocks and bolts

North House’s sled collapses for transport ¹. One way to do it, worked out here:

1. Glue and screw a hardwood block, about 1 1/4 by 3 by 4 inches, to the top of each runner where each post and front leg stands: front legs 14 inches from the tip, posts 34 inches (see the side view in lesson 2).
2. Stand each post and leg against its block and bore two holes through both for 1/4-inch carriage bolts.
3. Fit washers and wing nuts on the inside. Undo four wing nuts per side and the chair lifts off; the runners and chair travel flat.

The chair

• Posts: 1 1/4-inch-square birch, tall enough to put the handlebar at about 36 inches above the ground ¹.
• Seat: two side rails from the front legs to the posts at about 15 inches high, with slats across. Old sleds had a bench-like seat in front of the posts ².
• Braces: a diagonal from each post back down to its runner keeps the chair from racking when you push on the bar. The 1914 army sled in lesson 1 has braces like this ³.
• Front bar: a crosspiece bolted between the tops of the two curls; Nordic sleds join their runners at the front with a bar ⁴.

Keep the runners 16 inches apart outside to outside, the class sled’s width ¹; a typical adult sled has its runners about 400 mm (16 in) apart ⁵.

The handlebar

The class shapes a customized handlebar ¹. Rough it from 4/4 birch a few inches wider than the posts, then spokeshave and rasp the grips round to fit gloved hands. Height matters more than shape: about 900 mm, 35 inches, is typical ⁵, and a sport sled adjusts from 73 to 95 cm for riders 130 to 200 cm tall ⁶. Set yours from the kitchen-chair measurement in lesson 1 before you drill the posts.

Treads and finish

Behind the posts, glue or tack rubber or grip tape to the runner tops where your foot stands; Thonet’s 1904 sledge had foot plates there ². Then take the sled apart, sand every piece, and finish it with spar varnish or an exterior oil. Keep finish off the runner bottoms if they’re tarred.

Riding

1. Stand with one foot on a runner tread and both hands on the bar.
2. Kick back with the other foot.
3. Glide, and switch feet now and then.
4. Steer by leaning and twisting the handlebar. On steel sleds the runners flex to make the turn ⁵. Early wooden runners were stiff ⁵, so expect wider turns with yours.

A passenger or a load rides on the seat ⁵.

Where to ride

• Ice or hard-packed snow only. A kick sled won’t run on sanded or salted roads ⁴. On the level, 15 to 20 km/h comes easily ⁴.
• Bare ice: kick with studded boots or crampons ⁶; Thonet’s riders strapped crampons to their shoes in 1904 ².
• Deep snow: sport sleds clip on wide plastic snow runners, which also glide better than steel in snow or below about -10°C ^{6 5}.
• Frozen lakes make great kick-sledding, and a kick sled carries the gear for ice fishing ⁵. Check the ice first.

Try it

On the first ride, go to a packed, level path and kick ten times with each foot, counting how far each glide carries. Then raise or lower the handlebar an inch, or reshape the grips, and do it again. Small changes in bar height change how hard you can kick.