Sleds are vehicles that lack wheels and instead use runners or blades. As long as the surface is not too dry, it can be utilized as a mode of transportation on low-friction surfaces like snow or ice. To slide sleds on, you may even use a surface that is wet, like sand or river stones. Horses, mules, oxen, and dogs are the most common animals used to pull sleds, which are called sleighs if they’re drawn by bigger animals, like Santa‘s reindeer. British exploration missions to the Arctic and Antarctic in the 1800s and 1900s used sleds drawn by men. The British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott was one of several who advocated this method. Most others, like Roald Amundsen, utilized dog sleds. Some modern-day explorers utilize kites to pull sleds over frigid terrain.
Etymology of Sled and Sleigh
The term “sled” is derived from the Middle English “sledde” which comes from the Middle Dutch “slēde” meaning ‘sliding’ or ‘slider’. Words like “sleigh” and “sledge” all trace their roots back to this one. In the early 1400s, the word “sled” was used to describe a dragging vehicle that could pull large loads over rough terrain or even ice. The modern American English version of “sleigh” dates back to the 1580s and refers to a recreational or transport sleigh. By 1873, the term was defined as a set of runners connected to a framework, featuring a lightweight seat or platform, intended for recreational use.
History of Sleds and Sleighs
Sleds have been around for about 10,000 years, with the first records appearing in Arctic locations. The adaptations of ancient dogs to the Arctic’s frigid climate were crucial to the early humans’ survival there. Therefore, dragging was a common method of transporting large goods over varied landscapes throughout the Neolithic period (8000–4500 BC).
In ancient times, a sled was any solid foundation that could sustain a large weight and it would move over rails made of many logs set in a row, or it would roll on very hard terrain. It was possible to pull long stones, menhirs, or obelisks with this ancient transportation as long as men ceaselessly replaced logs at the head of the move.
Log pathways enabled heavy-loaded wooden sleds to travel, whether in China or Turkey. These routes could be rather complex in perilous locations. Similar to the roads in Madeira (Portugal), these routes could be paved with pebbles that, when wet, turned slippery and smooth. Animals needed to be strong and composed for traction or braking on high hills, while men were frequently essential when dealing with steep inclines.
Travois
Travois trains (a sled design in the shape “A”) were common among the protohistoric peoples that disseminated Indo-European languages in Western Europe. These trains were constructed using loops, plants, ropes, or linked wooden poles, tiny tree trunks, canvas, or skins. You can easily tie cargo, hunting animals, or canvas bags to one of these poles that are fastened by crossbars.
Domestic animals, such as oxen, horses, reindeer, and other types of deer, were harnessed and used to provide traction based on the load. The first nomads moved their homes and families with this device. Dry steppes between low plains, where trees are few and lush woods are far away, need timber frames like strong tent canvas and felt. Although reduced or more complex versions of travois conveyance were preserved in the Arctic or Finland, they became extinct in the 18th century.
Toboggans
Only simplified, shorter travois, meant for quick and brief transfers, might have been the original source of toboggan-type sleds, which are sleds with no runners or skis but pulling bars. It is a type of man-hauled cargo sledge made from bark. There seems to be no knowledge of toboggan wagons in the ancient imperial world. However, by the late Middle Ages, large and relatively short carts had evolved, necessitating a resurgence of toboggans.
First Sleds with Runners
The first sled with runners was invented to reduce friction, or unwanted scraping, according to archaeological tests. Lateral runners were used for this purpose. Runners gave way to bigger sleds, which were basically the first sleighs.
The regular form of a basic sled consists of two lengthy runners joined by crossbars, with a lightweight structure or frame mounted on them. This structure, whether in the form of a plate or slats, was supported by foot rods rising above the runners to help secure the load.
The flat-bottomed sleds, resembling ancient versions, are still observed among northern Eurasian peoples like the Samoyeds or the Chukchi, similar to Inuit whale sleds or traditional skids. But there’s a small subset of sliding surfaces that the sled on runners works well on. Its usage is restricted by the terrain and its slope. Covers such as ice, snow, sand, grass, dirt, and silt are more suited to dragging than rolling.
Ice, Mud, and Snow Runners
The curved design of the front runners on a sled improves the sled’s stopping power and makes it easier to move it forward. The runners with a narrow profile perform well on frozen surfaces. The Dutch blacksmiths of the Golden Age also made ice sleds with forged iron runners.
On the other hand, the wide runners perform great on mud and snow. Runners fashioned from repurposed broad staves were known as “mud shoes” in Anglo-Norman Europe. At low tide, people would drive a sled fitted with mud runners through the mudflats in search of clams, fish, or ducks. The Wadden Sea, located on the North Sea’s southernmost rim, is a prime example of this method.
Did Runners Give Way to Wheels?
The sleds with runners might also be the beginning of the first wheeled-cart if the runners carried by a chassis turned into the basic bounds of the carrying body over time. Ironically, the Near or Middle East was home to the most technologically sophisticated civilization of the Bronze Age that invented the wheeled draw cart or chariot.
But considering their constant need to be on the move, the steppe cultures would have also figured out how to make a rolling wheel in no time so that they could keep migrating seasonally.
Peasant Sleds
In Western Europe, the peasant sled, lacking a toboggan or pulling bar, was often crafted by a farmer using materials like ash or oak wood. This same farmer would typically be the one towing it on slopes or attaching it to a horse collar or a pair of oxen with draw chains. A Wales-style harvest sled would disassemble into pieces: a plank platform, stairs or brackets rising about 40 inches high on both ends, and sides attached to the front brackets.
These sides, about 80 inches long and assembled with simple eight-cog mortises, determined the sled’s width. The pulley load was supported by the floor, stairs, and sides, along with a rope system. Occasionally, a naturally forked log further simplified the making of the sled, utilizing planks and standard ladders or side devices.
It is believed that sleds were widely utilized by the Ancient Egyptians while building public works, especially for pulling large obelisks across the desert. Some sleds were discovered during the excavation of the “Viking” ship at Oseberg. The significance of the sled laid in its exemption from tolls while crossing borders, unlike wheeled vehicles.
Vozok
Traveling quickly over the snowy plains of Siberia and Europe required a closed winter sled, or vozok, which was in use until the latter half of the 19th century. The Muscovite nobility, bishops, and boyars all favored this means of transportation. Various vozoks that have historical significance are kept at the Kremlin Armory today.
Ancient Egyptian Sleds
A variety of goods, including massive sculptures, could be moved over the warm desert sands by use of wooden sleds in Ancient Egypt, also called “skids”. The sand was wetted beforehand to make their movement easier. Artifacts of these sleds hauled by different groups of Egyptian laborers have been found in tombs, and reliefs and paintings of Egyptian architecture also include them.
The huge stones used to build the Pyramids, which were either sandstone, limestone, or granite and weighed around 2½ tons each, were reportedly transported to the site by means of sleds. There are other hypotheses that propose pulling the sleds up ramps to place the stones atop the pyramid.
Sleds Around the World
The art of the sled has been practiced for eons in countries with savannas or dry grasslands, particularly in Africa and Eurasia. Sleds were initially dragged by animals on grassy meadows or on snow or ice in the Russian realm and the vast eastern lands of the Polish and Lithuanian monarchies. There are different kinds of sleds, each designed for leisure, entertainment, tourism, or sports.
Troika
For instance, a troika is a traditional Russian sleigh drawn by three horses harnessed horizontally. Since the horses are harnessed side by side, this sets the troika apart from the majority of three-horse combos around the world. The middle horse trots and the side horses canter.
Pulk
In ancient times, sleds might have been constructed from a variety of materials, including wood, braided plants, bone, skins or leather, metal, ice, and so on, depending on the surrounding physical terrain and weather conditions. The pulk is one of the Sami sleds that Jean-François Regnard discovered on his journey to Lapland (a region of Finland). It is built without runners or steering, merely using ropes and reindeer thongs.
Sleds with Wheels
In the winter, wooden skate runners can be fastened to the wheels of a rolling cart or peasant cart, turning it into a sled. Sometimes, depending on the conditions and risky descents, some wider brake pads were just put on the front wheels, and the back wheels were kept locked.
The manual or “mechanical” lever brake of the 18th-century peasant cart originated from the need to address challenges like this during descents in muddy or snowy areas. In such terrain, the smaller front wheels could slip on slopes or become stuck when returning to level ground.
Attaching brake pads became essential in these situations. Once traction was secure, especially on hills and flat surfaces, the runners were removed. The brake pad was also strategically positioned at the rear of the vehicle, fixed to the rim of the large rear wheels.
Alpine Sleigh
In the past, people in rural or mountainous areas used a variety of sleds, most of which could be pulled up the mountain by a single man. The sleigh is most useful for bringing heavy goods downward, emptying them, and then climbing back up with a lighter weight. Milk cans were often brought down to the valleys on a basic sleigh. Alpine or mountain sleighs with large runners are pulled by one or more men down a sloping route to bring feed or wood to the lowlands. Additionally, oxen or dogs might also be used to hitch sleighs.
Dog Sled
The dog sled is still widely employed in northern or polar locations, such as Lapland and the far north of the United States, for economic reasons. A musher pulls a team of dogs—huskies, malamutes, samoyeds, alaskis, etc.—to propel it quickly across snow and ice. It is a commercially useful vehicle that has survived in the Arctic and subarctic without any powered variations.
Rescue Sled
Since sleds are both lightweight and swift, they are also used by rescue patrollers to transport wounded people off ski slopes, often on a toboggan (which looks like a stretcher). They used these rapid sleds to evacuate the wounded from ski resorts.
Sleds for Quarries
There are even more sleds emerging from the retrograde modification of old transportation techniques. For instance, a sled without runners was used to pull stones with a horse in quarries and stonemasonry projects. This sled was composed of two flat sections united by several crosspieces. At each of its four corners, hooks were provided to fasten the horse’s harness.
Sleds in Sports
Bobsled
The team winter sport of bobsled entails racing against the clock down icy, winding, and tight courses propelled only by gravity. The steering system comprises two ropes connected to a steering bolt, which controls the movement of the bobsled’s front frame. The driver can guide the sled to the right by pulling on the rope with their right hand or steer to the left by using their left hand. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, St. Moritz, Switzerland, was the site of the first bobsled races. From the very first Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France, the four-man event has been a mainstay.
Luge
Luge is a compact sled designed for one or two individuals, allowing them to sled in a supine (face-up) position with their feet leading the way. After sitting down and starting to push themselves from the start ramp’s grips, lugers either use their calf muscles to flex the runners of the sled or apply opposing shoulder pressure to the pod to steer. Lugers attain speeds of almost 90 mph, and it is the quickest of the three sled sports.
Skeleton
Sliding down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first is the goal of the winter sport known as the skeleton, which involves riding a tiny sled called a “skeleton bobsled”. It is possible that the sled’s skeletal build inspired both the sport and its name. The courses used for bobsled races are also utilized for skeleton races.
