The hidden dangers of winter sliding.

One of the irresistible allures of freshly fallen snow is the urge to flop onto the ground and slide downhill. Generations of families have been coming together to go sledding for centuries. Unfortunately, this perceived innocuous activity has predictable injury patterns, many of which are preventable with minimal effort or expense. Catastrophic injuries, not infrequently involving younger children, also seem to be preventable with education of the parents and the general public. The current authors reviewed the available literature on sledding injuries and summarized the findings on injury patterns and the recommendations on injury prevention. Proposals for injury prevention and public education, several of which have been designed by national interest groups, are included.