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ISSUE 1: THE GAMES EDITION
"The problem of recreation in the atomic age"

To Begin to Toboggan by Melanie Rose

A game is a contest played according to rules and decided by a combination of skill, strength and luck, the proportion of each required depends on the game. The game I am about to describe has few rules, little skill, a bit of strength and a lot of luck.

Toboggan racing in Norway is not for the faint hearted, it’s a combination of bobsleigh and go-carting, with few rules. In fact, come to think of it there is a distinct lack of rules, which is an alien concept to someone brought up on complicated board games and trained from birth in the etiquette of taking turns and sharing.

A racing toboggan isn’t your bog standard go-cart on skies. It has two rear skies and a front ski that is steered by the use of a steering wheel. Braking is achieved by a metal ‘paddle’ digging into the snow but this isn’t used much. Quite simply you start at the top of the mountain and race down, trying not to fall off or collide with your opponents, the latter being the most painful. To add tension and drama to this dangerous sport Norwegians often race at night, either by the light of the moon or by the main beam of a following snow scooter lighting the way, (but only for the slowest!).

The skill aspect of this game is staying on your toboggan, overtaking your opponent without a collision, which as I have already mentioned is extremely painful if executed incorrectly and then finally after you fall off finding your toboggan, which is often easier said than done due to the depth of the snow. Strength and weight play an important part, inasmuch that the heavier you are the faster you go, but weight often goes with height, and tall and heavy is not a good combination, as your knees end up under your chin, this combined with the ridiculous layers of life preserving clothing required in sub-zero temperatures, one could reach the opinion that beached whales wrapped in duvets would have as much skill.

Finally luck – an essential!