Entree Kibbles: Tenguyama Slide - The Sled Ride on the Summit of Mt. Tengu @ Otaru [Hokkaido, Japan]

The combo ticket we purchased for Mt. Tengu included a two-way trip on the ropeway, a pack of sunflower seeds for the chipmunk, the votive tablet for the long-nosed goblin and lastly, a one-time ride for Tenguyama slide; latter of which we shall be covering today!

An upward climb of about 250 meters appeared daunting at first but the motorized mechanism pulling the sleds shall make your "job" much easier; just rest and relax under the hot sun.

Instructions on how to operate the sled which i thought was pretty similar to the luge ride we have on Sentosa Island in Singapore!

Visualization for better reference with further information on the ride; the English translation is pretty funny. For example, the drunk one cannot take it.

With just a lever in the middle, i didn't think it would be much of a hassle to operate the sled; push forward to accelerate, pull backward to brake. Chicken feet in my opinion and you can see many kids giving it a try.

My turn - the worker shall ensure a safe distance between riders by placing his foot on your sled before allowing it to cross the red line to join the rest.

Here's the climb up the 250-meter slope!

Big boards along the way shall act as kind reminder on what you should do and since you have literally nothing to do, it's very to your face.

No English translation and i am guessing there are woodpeckers on the 680-meter tall mountain.

Halfway up the slope - the ride was said to take 5 minutes and i did a check; the climb up the slope was about 4 minutes which means the actual "slide" was a minute or less.

I think it's an eagle.

Boredom had set in at this time and i was just taking useless pictures (like the above of a dead bug) while complaining about the hot weather that was actually making me sweat!

This will be the spot where gravity shall give us the much awaited thrill; however, safety comes first and the advice, according to the board, was to pull down the lever so that you don't go too fast!

Down we slide! Aside from having the wind brushing against my face on this sunny day, riders would be guaranteed a view of Otaru.

As the speed can reach up to 40 kilometers an hour and you might be unlucky to have a scared rider ahead of you who decided to slide down slowly; do be mindful of what's ahead of you and brake accordingly to prevent an accident.

Important notice - the last 20 meters and braking is NECESSARY!

I had stepped out from my sled and guessed it might be useful to show you how the last leg of the ride looked like. Right behind me was Alex by the way.