Sledding Day at MCAD! | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Sledding Day at MCAD!

By Kevin Vigneur on April 03, 2023
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A landscape photograph of a sledding hill, there are several sledding lanes and the sun is setting in the background
Kevin Vigneur

Winters in Minnesota can be a bit harsh, especially for those who are new to snow. When the temperatures start to drop, people’s love for the winter weather starts to wane. I can’t really blame them—last month my hair started to freeze just walking from my dorm on campus to my classes. Personally, I find snow (especially lots of it) enjoyable and exciting, but I like severe weather, so maybe I'm a little biased.

A young woman with red hair is on a slide going down a snowy hill on a sled

When we Minnesotans see snow, we sometimes forget that it doesn’t happen everywhere. I have met lots of fellow students (including my partner) who have never seen snow. It can be hard to remember the joys of winter having grown up shoveling inches of it, scraping it off our cars, or traversing the freezing cold from place to place. However, when I heard other students talking about how excited they were to see it, some fond memories started coming back to me. They reminded me of the days when school was canceled and I’d have the whole day to myself: building forts out of the snow plow piles, snowball fights between friends, taking a sled down our neighbor's backyard, or just enjoying a warm cup of hot chocolate, watching the snow fall outside the window.

A landscape photograph of a snowy hill, there is a hut in the background and a jump in the middle ground. The sun is setting in the background

While it may seem like those days are long past as an adult, thankfully that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Minnesota is renowned for hosting a smorgasbord of winter events that everyone can enjoy— including skiing, sledding, winter hikes, winter festivals, ice skating, ice fishing, dog sledding, and way more. 

If there is another thing Minnesota is full of, it’s state parks and recreational areas. Recently, Student Affairs hosted a free event at the Elm Creek Park Reserve, Giving students a chance to visit some of Minnesota’s natural wonders and enjoy 4 hours of endless tubing fun.

Two people standing on a snowy sledding hill

It's important to take a step back and enjoy the beauty of our surroundings—even with temps in the negatives! The event was a blast, and even though our noses were cold, nothing could beat the feeling of enjoying the cold winter the most.

Close up of a sledding shed on a snowy hill with red sleds in-front of it

A small yellow building is on a snowy landscape, and on it there are two people. People are sledding in the background
A snowy landscape at sunset, there are multiple people sledding and the sun is setting in the background
People are walking across a bridge on a snowy landscape and the sun is setting in the background.
A snowy landscape at sunset, the sky is both purple and orange.
People are sledding down a snowy hill, there is a yellow sign that reads "WAIT TO GO UNTIL STAFF SIGNALS"

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The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) acknowledges it is located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. This is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota and Ojibwe people, who were forcibly exiled from the land because of aggressive and persistent settler colonialism. We recognize that this place has a complex and layered history. As a community dedicated to creativity, MCAD is committed to ongoing efforts to support and advocate for American Indian Nations and peoples.