Hamilton's mayor and Terry Whitehead will have a toboggan race

It's a sign of just how much the tobogganing landscape has changed in Hamilton.

A year ago, the activity was more or less banned. Now this weekend, the mayor and a city councillor will race each other down a hill.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Terry Whitehead, a Ward 8 councillor, will hop on sleds to see who can get to the bottom fastest at a Winterfestevent calledthe Healthy Kids Community Challenge kickoff.

There are still details to be worked out, such as whether they'll be on slick snow racers or old-time wooden toboggans. And they're not sure what the exact course will be at theGarth and StonechurchReservoir toboggan hill.

But Eisenberger was clear on the challenge after a city council meeting on Wednesday.

"We're going tobogganing," Eisenberger told Whitehead."You and I are going to race down the hill."

The sportsmanship is symbolic in a city where tobogganing has made headlines in the last two years.

• List of City of Hamilton permitted tobogganing hills
• List of Winterfest events

Years ago, the city implemented a bylaw banning tobogganing after a lawyer, Bruno Uggenti, was injured while tobogganing and successfully sued the city for $900,000.

The bylaw always allowed tobogganing on sanctioned hills, the city said in November. But later that month, the city made a point of officiallysanctioning some hills.

Whitehead, a councillor who spearheaded the city to look at the bylaw again, chose the Garth Street location. If the snow holds, this Saturday marks the first formal tobogganing event there.

Whitehead described his reaction when he first heard of the anti-tobogganing bylaw.

"I thought, 'This isn't Canadian,'" he said. "It's like road hockey in the street."

With the sanctioned hills, Eisenberger said, "we've managed to put the fun back into winter."

The event is from 1 to 4 p.m. on Feb. 13 at the tobogganing hill atGarth and Stonechurch
1515 Garth Street,The race between Eisenberger and Whitehead will happen between 1 and 1:30 p.m.

It's a music video about tobogganning in Hamilton