Dining hall trays will soon be used for more than just carrying food.
With the winter months in full swing, students will start to go sledding all over the city of Athens and on campus to pass the time in the snow, using various objects as makeshift sleds.
“We went sledding on the hill by Baker my freshman year,” Brooke Berning, a junior studying special education said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Students find different places throughout campus to go sledding, including Morton Hill and the hills by the Hocking River.
“We also went down by the river but we didn’t stay long,” Berning said.
Instead of using a traditional sled, Berning used a dining hall tray from Nelson Dining Hall to go sledding, as do many students.
“We put them under our winter coats and walked out,” Berning said. “I guess they just weren’t really paying attention.”
Delaney Phillips, a sophomore studying journalism, said she used cardboard instead of a dining hall tray or a traditional sled.
“We went to the ‘baby’ hills by the new dorms on South Green,” Phillips said. “It was nice because the hill was small so we didn’t have to hike up a big hill.”
Berning said that she went sledding because of a snow day her freshman year, as do many students when classes are canceled in the winter.
Phillips said there was enough snow to go sledding before winter break last year, which is when she went with her friends.
Despite the hill outside Baker University Center being “not the best”, Berning said she had a lot of fun sledding.
No one came to tell her that she was not allowed to sled on the hill, even though she was on Ohio University property.
“I saw a ton of people sledding by Baker during winter last year,” Tristen Rose, a sophomore studying sport management, said. “But I haven’t gotten to go sledding yet.”
With the small amount of snow that has fallen so far this winter, Phillips and Berning are both holding out for a better opportunity to go sledding.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the snow will pick up more in February during a very active "storm track” so there is no need to worry about not having sledding opportunities.
“If it snows super hard I’d like to go on a bigger hill,” Phillips said.
Berning plans to go sledding again this winter.
“I would love to do it again,” Berning said. “We still have those trays somewhere.”
