Davos sledge
Fly to Davos
The wooden sledge of Swiss childhoods, named after the resort.
The Davos sledge is the wooden sledge of almost every Swiss childhood: two iron-bound runners joined by a rigid frame, a slatted seat, and a cord tied at the front to haul it back uphill. It measures between 80 centimetres and a little over a metre, and you can ride it alone, or two or three together.
It descends from the small, light sledges that came from Norway in the 19th century, which the region’s carpenters took up. At first it was used to pull loads through snowbound villages. In 1883, on the road running down from Davos to Klosters, the first official international sledge race was held, on sledges built in Davos.
The right wood is ash, hard and supple at once: the seat slats bend without breaking. To curve the front of the runners, the carpenter steams the pieces, for an hour at 150 degrees, then clamps them in shape until they dry. As no two pieces of wood are alike, no two sledges are ever quite the same.
You steer it sitting bolt upright, with your feet: put a heel in the snow on the side you want to turn, and brake the same way. Slower than a racing sledge, it suits above all those who take their time.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Davoser Schlitten” (German); swissinfo, “Mit dem Davoser geht’s bergauf”; Davos Klosters, “Davos the pioneer”.
Finding the chest
Its chest appears near Davos once you have discovered all its sites on the map.
Sites discovered: 0 of 8
Every site of Davos is discovered: the chest is waiting for you near the town.
