A “sleigh ride” in Austria means sledding with a toboggan.  I didn’t know that, so when I asked about sleigh rides meaning the kind with the horse, I got a lot of advice about where to take the kids sledding.  I know now that I should have been asking about “Pferdeschlittenfahrt.”   Who knew?

It turns out we didn’t need the horses because the Wildkogelbahn was way better than a sleigh ride.   14km from the peak to the bottom, the longest sled run in Austria.  We all wore our ski clothes and snow boots and were thankful for the free drink at the top  to keep us warm.

Oma and Opa cheered us on and took pictures from the top.  I think they had a few drinks too before taking the chairlift back down.  We never knew sledding could be so fun, or that it actually took skill to avoid running into snowbanks!  We all had a little trouble staying on track at first but by the end everyone figured it out.   You just have to lean into and keep your feet up, and of course never leave your wingman.