Yup, foam sled all the way. Fast, the illusion that you have more control than a saucer (but not really), and that extra inch of cushion between you and the bumps.
Not that I’d want to launch myself down a snowy/icy hill on such a contraption anymore*, but I’m nostalgic for the classic wooden sled of my childhood.
*it was really fun at the bottom where three sledding hills converged, plus you had to be careful not to careen into an icy creek. Good times.
I’ll be in the lodge. Not that I have anything against sledding, but with my back and knee problems I don’t think I could make it back up the hill.
I’ve never sledded, but would if I had the chance, and the snow tube appealed to me because of the pre-deployed airbag aspect.
Rosebud
I had a runner sled as a kid, but there wasn’t a lot of snow in Southern Maryland, so my opinion doesn’t mean much. Now I’m happy that the nearest possibility of sled-able snow is 500 miles away.
Is there cocoa in the lodge? And turn up the heat!
I voted plastic. When I was a kid (5-7) I had a metal saucer sled - we called them flying saucers. I also had a wooden sled with metal runners. Neither of them worked well if the snow was fresh and not already packed down. When I was a little older Mini-boggans were all the rage. They were a sheet of blue plastic with a yellow rope handle that came rolled up tight. The kids that had them worked all winter to get them to lay flat. I, of course, didn’t have the name brand plastic sled (never had name brand anything!). Mine was an orange, flat sheet of plastic with a white racing stripe. That was one time that I was happy with the knock-off! I went down the hill like a rocket, while the kids with the real Mini-boggans struggled at the top of the hill trying to unroll their plastic enough to be able to sit on it. Those plastic sleds were so nice and light weight and easy to take back up the hill.
The zoo had a huge hill and they let the kids come in and slide all winter. We called it sliding, not sledding. The zoo was within walking distance so my friend and I spent hours and hours sliding. Some of my best memories.
I had a runner sled as a kid, but the runners were too narrow and just sunk into the sort of snow that we had so it never really worked. I think it was meant for hard pack or ice. As a result I’m choosing the opposite and going with a uncontrolled saucer.
The simple flat plastic, roll-up things. Put the toes of my boots in the handholds, lean back and fly. Basically as simple a geometry as you can get.
(The linked one is probably too small for an adult. But bigger ones abound.)
Yup. See post #12.
Panache is making fondue, too (:))
As (1) a child of the tropic and (2) well into my middle years, I shall retire to the lodge with the other fine folk and the cocoa, taking a pause to pour myself a cognac on the side.
(Though as **MrDibble **points out, the snow tube’s preinstalled airbag would lead me to lean in that direction, were I to have one too many cognacs and too high a confidence in my health insurer’s coverage…)
I too was once drawn to the apparent cushioning of the snow tube. On my first ride, I realized they are incredibly bouncy, and a little bump where you might catch a couple inches of air on a normal sled can send you a few feet in the air. It’s a blast as a kid, and very painful as an adult.
Haven’t had a runner sled since childhood, but my recollection is that if you had a hill and soft, unbroken snow, it took awhile to develop a good run for the sled. Once you had a somewhat packed surface, the sled was great. But gimme the plastic toboggan to start off with.
Here in the DC area, it looks like a moot point for this winter. I think I saw a few flakes mixed in with the rain one day. And we’re a week away from March. 
I picked this because the photo made it look comfortable; now I need to change my vote
We had a metal toboggan when I was a kid. It kicked ass compared to what other kids at my school were using (mostly wooden toboggans or crazy carpets). It was a little bit heavier but that just made it go farther.
First of all, I would never willingly go where it’s cold and snowy. But should I find myself in such a situation, like say I was a hostage and they dumped me at the top of a hill, I’d prefer a tube or a saucer. But once at the bottom, I’d definitely stay at the lodge what has all the bourbonses.
Also, you lose points for no option for “frozen corpse of your friends/relatives”
Aside from being sad and old, I’ve never been sledding. Though we occasionally got snow, it was never heavy, didn’t settle on the ground long, and it’d be gone by midday. It just wasn’t a thing where I lived.
And now I wouldn’t want to, and wouldn’t know where to start.
I’ve also never been on a roller coaster or even a ferris wheel. These things just weren’t around in my childhood at a level I could participate in. The best I had was an extremely safe chair-o-plane swing ride thingummy.
Anyway, I picked the last option.
Loose powder? Gimme a saucer.
When I was in high school the pump station right next to my house had a 1/2 mile long driveway that would get all iced up and was perfect for the runner-type sled.
There was a hill in Schenley Park that would have been a great sled riding hill, other than the fact that it ended right at a road. When we were (?)8 I went sled riding an that hill with a friend who lived nearby. Our parents had no idea where we were and would have shit themselves if they knew.
We rode our runner sleds down the hill several times, rolling off near the end, holding onto a rope tied to the sled, coming to a stop a few feet from the road. On my final run I rolled off but didn’t have a grasp of my rope, so my sled went out onto the road where it was run over by a car.
The car stopped and the driver got out, freaking out because he thought he’d hit a kid on a sled. Meanwhile, we were running away, laughing.
We’ve got an assortment of plastic, foam, and runner sleds as well as saucers. I personally like to use the ~1950 Flexible Flyer my father passed on to me. It helps that we have a decent sledding hill a mere 100 yards from our front door.