I bought a sledging session at Snow Factor in Braehead a while back as a joint gift for the little lady and her daddy. It’s something I would’ve liked to do myself, but I thought it would be a really fun daddy daughter afternoon; something they could do just the two of them.
The Sledging
On arrival, and after wrapping up warm and putting helmets on, there was a short safety briefing (of just a few minutes) before everyone were given their sledges. Then it was time to climb the slope and take turns sliding down. (As you might expect when you go sledging!) The session lasted half an hour, and you just climbed up & slid down as many times as possible within that half hour.
The little lady really enjoyed sliding down, but wasn’t a massive fan of climbing up. She managed to convince her daddy to carry her up pretty much every time. To be fair, the slope was slippery for her, and she was a bit tired from having a late night the night before (as were we). And daddy felt sorry for her. She absolutely LOVED the real snow though. She loved touching it and playing with it and lying down making snow angels in it.
Daddy had great fun too. I do think he’d have enjoyed it more if he hadn’t had to carry her and 2 sledges up a slippery slope every time, but I guess that’s part of his job. He did enjoy the sliding down part of it too though. And when she decided to play with the snow he got a break from carrying her… He did manage to get her to sledge by herself the final time which he was very pleased about. 🙂
The Cost
Each session lasts half an hour and costs £10 for children and £12 for adults. (Children 7+ can go themselves but children 3-6 must be accompanied by an adult.)
The Logistics
I’d recommend you and your kids wear waterproofs (including waterproof gloves) and warm layers. Snow Factor is pretty chilly, you know, with all the snow. The little lady really liked playing with the snow and making snow angels, so I’m really glad I made her wear waterproof everything!
With a 3 year old who wants to look at and examine everything and can’t seem to walk anywhere without singing and dancing to herself, it takes about 5-10 minutes (depending on how distracted they get by everything they have to pass) to get from the entrance of xscape through to Snow Factor. Take this into account when you’re deciding what time to leave your house at!!
You can watch from the viewing platform inside Snow Factor through Barvaria. The squishy and I watched from there. Make sure you wrap up warm if you want to spectate. Baby boy was in a wrap and was roasty toasty. Since he was in the wrap my front was nice and warm. The rest of me was pretty freezing after about 5 minutes.
The Little Lady Said
“It was cold. Can I have a snack?” and then “Did you see me mummy? I west fast fast fast!”
The Verdict
Sledging at Snow Factor was an excellent activity. The little lady absolutely loved the sledging (the sliding down part, anyway) and really enjoyed playing in and with the fluffy real snow. I think she’d have quite liked a chair lift to get up the 10 or so metre slope, but apart from that she had a blast.
I’d say sledging at Snow Factor is probably one of the more expensive half hour activities we’ve done, but it was great fun. It’s not something we’d do every weekend, but as a little treat it was totally worth it.
Snow Factor is located in Soar at intu Braehead (formerly Xscape), around a 10 minute drive from the city centre.
