{"id":76,"date":"2010-02-08T20:01:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/2010\/02\/08\/strongsville-toboggan-chutes-are-great-family-fun-this-winter\/"},"modified":"2017-08-09T14:02:07","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T18:02:07","slug":"strongsville-toboggan-chutes-are-great-family-fun-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/strongsville-toboggan-chutes-are-great-family-fun-this-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Strongsville toboggan chutes are great family fun this winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436043084299046322\"<\/a>
Hurtling down a 1,000 foot long ice covered chute\u2026.wind tearing off your knit ski cap\u2026. trees flying by at 50+ mph. This could only be a good thing if you are in Strongsville, OH at the Chalet toboggan chutes. Come to ride or come to take pictures, you\u2019ll have fun either way. (Click here<\/a> for the full slide show of my images from this shoot.)<\/p>\n

Pulling into the parking lot, off Valley Parkway between Rts. 82 and 42, you\u2019ll find plenty of parking. Walk around to the right of the Chalet and you\u2019ll find the ticket window. Purchase your ticket, walk through the portal, grab a 40# toboggan and start climbing stairs. 124 steps wind you back and forth, up the hill, until you reach the top. <\/p>\n

At the top, climb aboard your toboggan and you\u2019re off on your 15 seconds of windblown adventure. Dual chutes are available in case you\u2019ve got friends who want to race you to the finish. At the end of the ride, hop off, walk back and do it again. Thankfully, the kind Metropark\u2019s people take care of transporting all the toboggans back to the base of the hill for you.<\/p>\n

Photo opportunities abound. You can shoot from outside, braving the elements, or shoot through the big glass windows of the chalet. Crank up that shutter speed to 1\/250th of a second or better and pan your camera as the sleds fly by. Slowing the shutter speed to 1\/60th or so, and panning carefully, will render a shot with great motion blur for a background. (See the slideshow below for examples.) You can shoot at the base of the hill for that dramatic vertical drop look, or move further down the tracks to get the toboggans racing for the finish line. <\/p>\n

For 42 years, the Cleveland Metroparks have been providing excitement for winter thrill seekers. From the day after Thanksgiving, through the first weekend in March, weather permitting, the chutes are open Thursday through Sunday. You can call 440-572-9990 to make sure. <\/p>\n

According to Melissa Tirpak-Chylik, Chalet Manager, groups come from all over, including one group from Arizona, to enjoy the tobogganing. If you have a group, you can arrange for private hours and days of operation. Check the Cleveland Metroparks Web page <\/span>for more information. <\/p>\n

Hours are as follows:
Thursday 6:00 p.m. \u2013 10:00 p.m.
Friday 6:00 \u2013 10:30 p.m.
Saturday Noon \u2013 10:30 p.m.
Sunday Noon \u2013 5:00 p.m. <\/p>\n

You must be 42\u201d or taller to ride and being in good health is strongly advised. Back problems, scared of heights, heart trouble? All those might be good reasons you\u2019d prefer to watch only. But there\u2019s a place for that too. <\/p>\n

Inside the Chalet, where a big wood fire keeps things cozy, you can watch from the second floor and get great views as your friends speed by on the chutes. There\u2019s a snack bar as well and they keep the hot chocolate flowing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hurtling down a 1,000 foot long ice covered chute\u2026.wind tearing off your knit ski cap\u2026. trees flying by at 50+ mph. This could only be a good thing if you are in Strongsville, OH at the Chalet toboggan chutes. Come to ride or come to take pictures, you\u2019ll have fun either way. (Click here for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_15245835_15245835":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[608,3],"tags":[3646,118,29,125,124],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news-blog","category-travel","tag-metroparks","tag-photo-locations","tag-shooting-technique","tag-strongsville","tag-tobogganing"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","rpg_gallery_admin_thumb":"","rpg_gallery_thumb":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","gb-block-post-grid-landscape":"","gb-block-post-grid-square":"","et-pb-post-main-image":"","et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":"","et-pb-portfolio-image":"","et-pb-portfolio-module-image":"","et-pb-portfolio-image-single":"","et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":"","et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth-large":"","et-pb-image--responsive--desktop":"","et-pb-image--responsive--tablet":"","et-pb-image--responsive--phone":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

Hurtling down a 1,000 foot long ice covered chute\u2026.wind tearing off your knit ski cap\u2026. trees flying by at 50+ mph. This could only be a good thing if you are in Strongsville, OH at the Chalet toboggan chutes. Come to ride or come to take pictures, you\u2019ll have fun either way. (Click here for the full slide show of my images from this shoot.) Pulling into the parking lot, off Valley Parkway between Rts. 82 and 42, you\u2019ll find plenty of parking. Walk around to the right of the Chalet and you\u2019ll find the ticket window. Purchase your ticket,…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Blog<\/a>, Travel<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Doug","url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/author\/admindoug\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","author_meta":{"display_name":"Doug","author_link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/author\/admindoug\/"},"featured_img":null,"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Doug","author_link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/author\/admindoug\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Blog<\/a>","Travel<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Blog<\/span>","Travel<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Metroparks<\/a>","Photo locations<\/a>","shooting technique<\/a>","Strongsville<\/a>","Tobogganing<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Metroparks<\/span>","Photo locations<\/span>","shooting technique<\/span>","Strongsville<\/span>","Tobogganing<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 16 years ago","modified":"Updated 9 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 8, 2010","modified":"Updated on August 9, 2017"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 8, 2010 8:01 pm","modified":"Updated on August 9, 2017 2:02 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p21Ejy-1e","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24714,"url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/the-rail-comes-to-strongsville\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":0},"title":"The RAIL comes to Strongsville","author":"Doug","date":"August 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":" It was only back in March that we first discovered The RAIL in Canton.\u00a0 We became immediate raving fans, and even more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Past"","block_context":{"text":"Past","link":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/category\/past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RAIL2.jpg?fit=1200%2C661&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RAIL2.jpg?fit=1200%2C661&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RAIL2.jpg?fit=1200%2C661&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RAIL2.jpg?fit=1200%2C661&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RAIL2.jpg?fit=1200%2C661&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15132,"url":"https:\/\/dougbardwell.com\/db\/youll-flip-for-the-best-burgers-and-beer-in-canton-the-rail\/","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":1},"title":"You’ll flip for the best burgers and beer in Canton – The RAIL","author":"Doug","date":"March 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Burgers and beer just go together, and there\u2019s no better place to make this match-up than The RAIL in Canton;\u00a0 (4347 Belden Village Mall\u00a0Canton, OH 44718). 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