Across Indiana
Pokagon's Epic Toboggan Run
Clip | 3m 53sVideo has Closed Captions
The toboggan run at Pokagon State Park brings out 77,000 sledders every year.
In the snowy winter months, sledding is the perfect outdoor activity. Join Across Indiana producer Frank Konermann on a journey to Pokagon State Park’s toboggan run in this classic episode from 1994.
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Across Indiana is a local public television program presented by WFYI
Across Indiana
Pokagon's Epic Toboggan Run
Clip | 3m 53sVideo has Closed Captions
In the snowy winter months, sledding is the perfect outdoor activity. Join Across Indiana producer Frank Konermann on a journey to Pokagon State Park’s toboggan run in this classic episode from 1994.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] Hoosiers seem to be enthralled with speed.
Just look at the crowds at the speedway during the month of May, but what can you do for that kind of excitement during the cold winter months?
Go to Norway and compete with the Olympic bobsled team?
(tires squealing) Probably not.
There is something closer to home.
At Pokagon State Park, you can experience the thrill of speed on the toboggan run.
(riders cheering) - We've had conservation officers come out and clock 'em in various times, and we've had 45 miles an hour and greater.
Depending on the ice conditions, on a day like today, when it's snowing, it will slow 'em down a little bit.
It increases the friction a little bit.
On a wet day, they'll go much, much quicker.
(sled clanging) It takes about, depending on the ice conditions, between 24 and 30 seconds from the time you start at the top to the time you come to the end of it.
We average about 77,000 riders per year, so it's a very, very popular activity.
- [Narrator] Now, you might be saying that Indiana isn't the winter recreation capital of the country, let alone the Midwest, so how is it that we have such a popular toboggan run in the northeast corner of the state?
- Well, the original slide, it started out with Civilian Conservation Corps, and back in 1935, 1936, they used this hill as a recreational hill, and then they put some sides on it and made it into a small run.
In 1941, they added about a 30-foot wooden tower, and with that, they had a little extra boost on there.
In 1971, a modification was made so that there was refrigeration system.
At that time, we laid down ice mats, basically, and built ice on top of that.
Then 1985, a new track was put down, where there's copper tubing that's embedded into the concrete, and we have a refrigeration system that pumps out the glycol at about five degrees.
We freeze the track.
There's side rails made of stainless steel that pretty much keep the toboggans going in the proper direction.
(sled clanging) This is one of the better winter family outings, I think, that people can have, rather than sitting in front of the TV watching the football games all weekend, or the basketball.
You'll see a lot of families coming out, and we draw from a lot of Indianapolis people, Lafayette, Kokomo, Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, so we really have a pretty good range as far as the draw in this area.
Once you're in the park, there is a $4-an-hour rental fee for the toboggan.
It's a four-place toboggan and as many rides as you can get down in an hour, that's what you get.
- There you go, set?
- Yep.
Yeah.
♪ Slip sliding away ♪ ♪ Slip sliding away ♪ - [Rider] That's quite a thrill, it really is.
Hang on for dear life.
(rider laughing) ♪ Slip sliding ♪ - [Rider 2] The wind in your face.
(rider shouting) - [Speaker] It's exhilarating, it is because it's like you're flying through the air.
- [Patron] You're just going to so fast you can't stop.
- [Customer] It's fun, fast, hard to breathe.
(riders laughing) Yes, look at it!
♪ My love for you's so towering ♪ ♪ Afraid that I ♪ - [Narrator] Now that the ride is over, you may want to relax with a cup of hot cocoa, or head back to the top of the hill and do it all over again.
♪ Slip sliding away ♪ (rider cheering) ♪ You know the nearer ♪ (upbeat music) - [Presenter] For more "Across Indiana" stories, go to wfyi.org/across Indiana.
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