'Overreach by the city': Whyte Ridge residents not letting toboggan ban slide

Some Whyte Ridge residents are upset after the city put up a sign banning tobogganing on a popular hill in the area.

For Wesley Wold, tobogganing at Scurfield Park has been a family tradition since he moved to Winnipeg's Whyte Ridge neighbourhood in 1989.

"Since the early 90s with all three of my kids," he said." On a beautiful day in January, February or March, you'd see 40 to 50 people up here and I've met a lot of friends up here tobogganing. It's always been a great time."

Wold hadn't been to the hill in a few years but took his young grandson there on Wednesday.

Once at the top, Wold noticed two City of Winnipeg signs which said "no sliding."

"Maybe a sign should say sled at your own risk," said Wold. "So I thought it was an overreach by the city to prohibit sledding on a hill that's clearly quite open, and it's great fun and a family activity."

The City of Winnipeg tells CTV News the signs were put up because of obstacles.

"The 'danger – no sliding, hidden hazards' sign at this location was installed on January 23 because the area where people were sliding crosses over a nearby active transportation path used by cyclists and pedestrians, and ends up on a nearby frozen retention pond," read a statement from the city.

It went on to say people should instead use one of the City of Winnipeg's four designated toboggan hills --a recommendation Wold feels falls short of a solution.

"I understand that there are certain obstacles here, but I would never put my grandson's life in danger. He had such a great time as we came down the hill here. He was giggling and laughing," he said.

Wold worries the city could start putting up more signs at other hills or ban sledding entirely at non-designated spots.

"There are places you can go like The Forks, which is a lot of fun, but here you can walk instead of drive, so it's environmentally friendly and we get great exercise, and more importantly we get to spend time as a family," said Wold.

CTV News asked the city how many other similar signs there are in Winnipeg, as well as what would happen if someone was caught sledding at the hill. The city has yet to respond.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) said 80 people went to the emergency department or urgent care due to sledding in 2022.

The health organization said so far, there has been around 40 toboggan-related incidents this year.

A spokesperson for the WRHA notes the statistic might not be accurate as the number was based on a keyword search for tobogganing/sledding in triage documents and not specific data.