Classic Sledding Hill To Turn Into Giant Slip-And-Slide This Weekend
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Sunny Slopes of South Park is one of Allegheny County's most popular sledding areas. Pray for snow, and down you go.
Sliding down the Sunny Slopes is now a year-round event - at least for this weekend. A crew from Utah is assembling a water slide that is longer than three football fields, end-to-end.
Salt Lake City was the proving ground for a slippery slide now making a cross-country tour. Slide manager Chris Conran says it takes about six hours to put it all together.
"This hill's perfect," he adds. "I mean, it's a 1,000-foot-long slide. Nice little incline, so people can get some speed. You know, we'll be going pretty fast, and it'll be fun. Because it's better to have them going fast than to have them get up and walk down the slide."
He says an under-layer of foam makes for a comfortable ride.
"We're putting this slide on top of the foam, and from there we attach everything together, and get everything together. Get everything blown up, and then test the water and things like that."
He says the sliding experience never grows old.
"It's like being a little kid again, and going down your 50-foot long Slip-and-Slide in the front yard, except this one's a 1,000 feet long. It kind of adds a little bit more speed and a little bit more fun to the equation, as well. It's a lot of fun, especially when you can go down as a group and you're going down with a bunch of people, too."
All 5,000 Saturday tickets sold out, and tickets for Sunday are going fast. These South Park students grew up sledding on this hill. They're ready for something new.
"Probably a lot faster than sledding, because there's not really any friction or anything," says Jacob Mountain, who has a three-slide pass for Saturday. "Just get to zip down."
Nicole Evans also has a three-slide pass.
"I hope it's going to be like, not bumpy, because I don't want my butt to hurt me," she says with a chuckle.
That's where the foam comes in.
For more information on the weekend slide, log on to www.slidethecity.com.
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