Volunteers were hard at work in January of 2025 building the Eagles Mere Toboggan Slide. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

While some are already dreaming of warmth and fun in the sun, members of the Eagles Mere Volunteer Fire Company and other volunteers are gearing up to bring back the Eagles Mere Toboggan Slide for the second year in a row, following a 10-year hiatus brought on by above average temperatures.

“Overall, it’s cooperated pretty well,” Assistant Chief Mark Carl said.

“We had a couple of rain events after a snow event, which took the snow off of the lake, allowing it to continue to build clear ice, not snow ice, which is what we want,” he said.

Crews will begin doing an initial cut of the ice field Friday, before hauling and laying out the track on Saturday. Weather permitting, the final groove in the track will be completed on Sunday.

“There’s probably four or 500 hours total in getting to where we have a running track between behind the scenes stuff and and then the actual build,” Clark said.

Building on lessons learned last year, Clark said there have been some adjustments made to the operation, including moving the snack shack to the bottom of the hill, alongside the warm-up room and ticket booth, which can still be accessed by pedestrian traffic from Clay Avenue.

“We wanted to do this 12 years ago, and of course, Mother Nature said, ‘no, you’re not going to build it for 11 years,’ so we finally were able to implement a lot of the things we had talked about, and it was a huge improvement,” Clark said.

With the toboggan’s long-awaited return last, the level of interest was off the charts.

“There’s no other way to describe it, but insanity,” Clark said of the 2025 opening weekend.

“Everybody wanted to do it, because we had had the hiatus, and it just was overwhelming,” he said.

“The association felt bad because there were so many people that traveled up to the area that were not able to participate or have a run down the hill, because it was just too much,” Clark said.

Part of the issue came from some patrons holding onto their rented sled as they visited the snack shack or warm-up rooms for extended periods of time as they waited to take their second ride, which limited the amount of participants that could go down the slide.

To help alleviate that problem, guaranteed rides have been reduced to one per hour, with the cost of a ticket also decreased to $30.

“It made a huge difference on the number of people that we could cycle through,” Clark said, adding that over 10,000 people visited the event last year.

“There was a gentleman that came from near Wilkes-Barre that was a member of a fire company there. He was by himself, and he just kept renting the sled, and he said, ‘being a member of a fire company, I know what you’re up against as far as trying to raise funds,” Clark said.

“He was having the time of his life just riding by himself, and we said, ‘ask around, there might be a couple of people to jump on with you, so the next time he came down, there’d be a couple people with him,” he said.

Although primary controlled by the Eagles Mere Fire Company, members of eight other fire departments participate in running the slide, including Forksville, Muncy Valley, Hillsgrove, Laporte, Eldredsville, Shunk, Dushore and Mildred, which each receive a donation for their time and efforts.

The slide serves as the primary fundraiser for the department.

“I’ve been helping build the slide since I was about 10 years old. Back then, I was more in the way than I was help,” Clack joked, adding, “I’ve basically been helping for about 48 years now.”

“I’ve been a member in the fire company for over 40 years, so I see the struggle of funding fire companies and replacing equipment. 15 years ago, you could get a good fire truck for $250 to $300,000, now it’s at minimum, $600,000,” he said, noting that the benefits go beyond just the fire company.

“It brings a huge influx into the county, and makes a huge difference to the entire county as far as businesses and things like that,” he added.

“The financial benefit it gives Eagle’s Mere and the surrounding community itself, there’s a lot of businesses, restaurants and various other things that see a huge boost in their dollars coming in when the slide is there,” Clark said.

Clark’s advice to anyone considering a trip to the slide is to be ready for the elements, as well as a good time.

“Come prepared for an outside winter activity, dress properly, with proper footwear. We’ve seen a lot of people in and not the best footwear for the type of activity,” he said.

“Last year, we battled quite a bit with bare ice, but this year, we have a snow cover on the lake, which is a huge help, but I can’t stress enough proper clothing, proper footwear and a positive attitude, and we’ll do our best to get you down to track,” Clark said.

For more information on the Eagles Mere Toboggan Slide, please visit www.eaglesmeretobogganslide.com or the Eagles Mere Volunteer Fire Company Facebook page.