Sled
A
sled,
sledge or
sleigh is a
vehicle with
runners for sliding instead of
wheels for rolling. It is used for
transport on surfaces with low
friction, usually
snow or
ice but any grassy surface is good when it is not too dry. In some cases round river-washed stones make a good surface for sledges. Devices to be pulled across bare ground, such as a
travois, are not generally called "sleds", although skids often are.
Sleds are typically smaller and simpler than sleighs, though this is not always the case. Both are lightweight vehicles whereas a
sledge is more usually a low and rough farm vehicle designed for heavy haulage of loads such as cordwood, stone or ice blocks.
With only
gravity as the propelling
force, a sled can be used downhill, also as a
toy.
Alternatively, it may be pulled by
animals, usually
horses,
mules,
oxen or
dogs. It may also be pushed or pulled by humans (playing children, a parent pulling a child, etc.). Man-hauled sledges were the traditional means of transport on British exploring expeditions to the
Arctic and
Antarctic regions in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Dog-teams were used by most others, such as
Roald Amundsen. Today some people use
kites to tow exploration sleds in such climes.
A
troika is a vehicle drawn by three horses, usually a sled, but it may also be a wheeled
carriage.
The fictional
flying sleigh of
Santa Claus is pulled by flying
reindeer. It involves little sliding, perhaps only during taking-off and landing.
The
SR-71 Blackbird is also referred to by the nickname "sled" and its pilots are referred to as "sled drivers".
 |
A horse-drawn sleigh |
The various categories of sleds include:
* Coaster sled
* Wooden sled/sledge
* Draft-animal sled/sledge
**
Horse-drawn sleigh**
Dog sled* Flying sleigh
*
Bobsled - an
Olympic sport.
*
Toboggan*
Kicksled or spark or kicker, a human-powered sled
*
Aerosan, powered by an airplane propellor
*
Bobsled*
Luge*
Skeleton (sport)*
Ski*
Snowboard*
Snowmobiles*
Toboggan
