Sledding.......For Real

What do you do if you are by the Alps, but shouldn't ski as it could be really bad for your job (ex - hurt your knee or break your wrist)....GO SLEDDING!
Last week on Monday a teammate and I drove 2hrs45mins to a sledding hill - Wildkogel am Bramberg. It might sound kind of crazy but this place was cool. When we got there we rented sleds, and the sleds aren't your average plastic sled you can get at Walmart, or a saucer or inner-tube; these were the real deal. They were made out of wood and had metal lining on the two rungs that made contact with the snow. Then there was a woven net that you sat on and you had a rope to hang onto that could help you steer. - we asked how much it would cost to buy one of these sleds new - 140 euros (thats like $190)
To get to the top of the hill (mountain) we took a gondola up. Once we got a ways up we thought this was going to be awesome because the run looked so long and it turned out we were only halfway up the hill. At the top of the mountain we could see so far and see many of the different alps and we could barely see the houses at the bottom - which was awesome because we knew we were going to get to ride a sled the whole way down.
The sled run was 9 miles long (14kms) and the internet says it takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on your skill level and how fast you can go. We did it twice. The first time it took us closer to an hour, especially as we stopped halfway down for a little break to warm up (they had a hut/bar/small restaurant halfway down that you could stop and grab something to eat/drink and warm up). Because we both didn't bring super warm boots and winter clothes - we had basketball shoes and thin winter coats- we took advantage of this. (And before the second run we stopped at the restaurant at the top of the hill and grabbed a hot chocolate and warmed up our toes).
The first run may have been a little slow and with a couple crashes into snow banks, but after we warmed our toes up and it was time for the second run it was game on and we hauled arse. The second time down we passed other sledders and even a lady on skis-we for sure made it down in 20 or so minutes. And the cool part about the 2nd time down is that we did half of it at night with the lights on. The run we did is actually the longest floodlight toboggan run in the world and we wanted to make sure we experienced that night aspect of it too.
I can't tell you how fast you get going but there were times where we were cruising. It was so cool....I definitely recommend if you get the chance to do something like this to do it!; and I am hoping that I will also get the chance to do it again.