By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — The heavy, wet snow made for challenging sledding conditions in Central Park, with moms, dads and grandparents pressed into service as trail packers and haulers of kiddie cargo.
"You've just got to pack it down, then it will be fast," said panting dad Eric Hayes as he waded through piles of dense snow to clear a path for his 5-year-old son, Magnus, on a knoll just south of West 68th Street.
Magnus observed his dad's efforts quietly from the comfort of an orange saucer sled, dressed in extra layers and waterproof gloves and boots. Eric Hayes wasn't wearing gloves, but that didn't stop him from hauling Magnus back and forth.
"I try to slingshot him down the hill as fast as possible," Hayes said. "The technique is, hold on tight and hope for the best."
A few feet away, grandfather David Koch stood behind 7-year-old Anna Rogoff as she perched at the top of the hill prepping for a ride on her red plastic sled.
Anna, a second grader who called Thursday's snow day "amazing," had concerns about a ski-jump style bump in the trail that had sent another sledder flying into the air. She requested that her mom and grandpa stamp out the bump.
"It will be fine honey, trust me," said her mother, Susan Rogoff.
Anna sailed down the hill, hit the bump, flew through a spray of snow, and landed safely at the bottom.
The trio had tried earlier to walk to another hill, but the deep snow proved too much of a challenge. "It's weird, there's almost too much snow," said Susan Rogoff.
But the damp snow was a boon for some in Central Park. Photographer Jon Ortner, armed with a tripod and film camera, said he got to the park at 5 a.m. to capture the beauty of the wintry landscape.
Unlike this winter's previous storms, Thursday's storm wasn't too windy, and the damp snow clung to tree branches, which made for better pictures, Ortner said.
"It's a fairy tale," Ortner said. "Oh look at the light, it's fantastic."
