The recent picturesque thick blanket of snow drew crowds of friends and families out onto the sledding hill at Tallinn's Song Festival Grounds on Sunday.

Michael, who works at the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, was out sledding with his three-year-old daughter Zosia — and their old wooden sled was the most beautiful on the entire hill.

"This is actually the sled from when I was a kid," Michael said. "So it's 35 years old. Still working! Much better than the new stuff, you know?"

Asked whether he had brought the sled with him from the U.S., he explained that he was actually born in Poland. "So my parents came, and brought the sled with them from Poland," he added.

Another group that had come sledding brought over a broken sled to leave in a dumpster filled with dozens more like it.

"We bought three identical sleds, and one of them broke — shattered," said Dmitri. "Seems like just weak plastic. Nothing happened. Everyone's still in one piece, everything's fine and it seems safe here to me. Just sleds break easily, so we'll have to buy something more durable."

Lauri, who came sledding with his two six- and eight-year-old children, acknowledged that it can be pretty dangerous on the hill at times.

"When there's enough snow, of course we come," he said, adding that the Song Festival Grounds is the closest hill to bring his kids sledding.

"There's usually a lot of people — then it's dangerous," Lauri admitted, adding that while at the time the hill was less crowded, it gets dangerous whenever there's more people out. "You learn from experience; that's the only way kids will learn. They crashed into someone here today too. They need to get used to the situation."

Daša, a mother of two kids aged two and four, agreed.

"Of course it was a little scary at first, but then you get used to it," Daša said. "Of course we've had some spills, but you can't avoid those. Everything's fine. It's safe overall."

Friends Jakob and Gleb go sledding at the Song Festival Grounds every winter. So far, they've managed to avoid any crashes, and their sleds are still intact too.

"We just pick somewhere where there aren't a lot of people," Jakob explained. "Or even if there are, they notice and will get out of the way quickly."

Asked whether the Song Festival Grounds boasted the best sledding hill, both Gleb and Jakob confirmed.

"First of all, it's very big here," Jakob explained. "And there are these sudden hills here, and it's a lot of fun."

Temperatures were milder by Monday, however, so sledders in at least the capital will have to stow their sleds to await the next freeze and snowfall.

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