Crystal blue ice blocks were carved out of the frozen water at Eagles Mere Lake over the weekend. Volunteers then lined about 900 of the perfect rectangles precisely down steep Lake Avenue.
"It definitely is one of a kind," said Jeremy Moore, vice president of the slide association. "We see that today here with the production of building it."
The Eagles Mere Volunteer Fire Company built its unique toboggan slide for the first time in over a decade. The slide is expected to draw thousands of people to Sullivan County to take a toboggan run. About 150 people live in the borough, according to 2020 U.S. Census.
The slide is the Eagles Mere Volunteer Company’s biggest fundraiser but the entire community benefits from the hard work.
"There's nine fire companies in the county, benefits them too, because they send crews to help us on Saturday and Sundays," said Mike Gavitt, president of the Eagles Mere Volunteer Fire Company. "Muncy Valley, LaPorte ... we have people staying in Hillsgrove, which is a half hour away.”
Over a century of 'rare sport'
There’s a blue historical marker at the top of Lake Avenue, the road the slide goes down. It says the original toboggan slide was designed and engineered by Captain E.S. Chase in 1904. Chase was a civil engineer from Wilkes-Barre who oversaw the development of Eagles Mere as a resort town.
Back in Captain Chase’s days ice didn’t come from freezers or convenience stores.
"We had hotels. You had to do ice for the ice houses," said Gavitt. "Captain Chase … he founded the fire company, came up with this idea."
The sign says but 1904 but an article was published in The Times Leader on Jan. 23, 1903. It says that the slide affords visitors to Eaglesmere — spelled at the time with no space between the words — “rare sport.”
“The coasters and toboggans shoot down the slide at a very high speed. By the time they reach the lake they are flying from 90 to 100 miles an hour,” the article says.
“It is probably the finest toboggan slide in the country and is providing a splendid midwinter attraction for Eaglesmere.”
Slower speeds, changing weather
Volunteers today say the top speed down the quarter mile track is about 45 mph. They still use Chase's original plan. The equipment was custom made over the years by people who the volunteers describe as "old timers" specifically to create the slide.
The volunteer crews, fresh off an 11-year hiatus, started carving ice on Friday. On Saturday a they bundled up in hats, gloves and thick winter jackets to work in the ice field.
This year’s consistent cold froze the lake enough to build the blocks. Each is 15.5 inches wide and 44 inches long and whatever the depth of the ice is — on Saturday it was about 11 inches thick.
While the slide itself hasn’t changed much, the weather has.
Scott Lee is 77. He’s been helping with the slide since he was about 12 years old.
"When I was a kid in the '50s and '60s and '70s, you probably had one year out of 10, you couldn't make it," he said. "Now we have one year out of 10 you can make it."
He stood on the ice near a conveyor belt. A blue Ford tractor powered large metal wheels that moved the belt. At its base about six volunteers with metal picks attached to long wooden poles pulled the blocks of ice out of the water and onto the belt. Icicles hung from the wooden structure. The blocks were then loaded onto UTVs and taken back to Lake Avenue where two volunteers unraveled pink twine to perfectly angle the slide down the hill and onto the lake.
Once all the blocks are in place, the volunteers carve out grooves for the toboggans. The process took all weekend.
If you go
The cost is $40 for a toboggan, which fits five people, for one hour. But Gavitt said that guarantees two rides regardless of the time.
The slide opens on Friday, Jan. 31, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 1, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 2, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
It will continue for several weekends, weather permitting.
"If we can get a month out of this (that will) be great," Gavitt said.
For updates on the slide, check the Eagles Mere Volunteer Fire Co. Facebook page or https://www.eaglesmeretobogganslide.com
