When Melisa Christensen first hopped on a kicksled and slid happily across a frozen pond in West St. Paul, she thought to herself, “Why isn’t everyone in Minnesota doing this?”

Three years after that first ride, Christensen opened her own kicksled shop in downtown St. Paul this week, called Brave the Snow, to share that childlike joy with others.

First things first, what is a kicksled? Christensen describes it as a miniature dog sled that you stand on the back of and kick like a scooter. Kicksleds also have a small bench in front for a child or small person to sit on.

As for the learning curve, “Anybody can do it,” Christensen said, “It’s less intimidating because you don’t have to strap on special boots or have any equipment.”

Filling a niche

Kicksledding, which began in Scandinavia as a mode of transportation, is slowly gaining popularity in the Twin Cities. “It’s just as Scandinavian as lutefisk and lefse,” Christensen said.

When she tried to buy her first kicksled in 2020, Christensen said it was difficult to track down. “The only option for me was to get one from Finland and shipping was super expensive,” she said.

That’s when she decided to start selling them online. Her online customers include people from Washington and Montana to New York, “states with lots of snow,” she said.

While many choose to hibernate in the winter, that’s when Christensen gets to work. Even when she was younger, she remembers helping her dad sell Christmas trees.

Last year, Brave the Snow’s online store sold some 200 kicksleds, which Christensen said are usually priced around $300 depending on the model.

Online sales helped to fund the brick-and-mortar storefront, located at 30 E. Seventh St., Suite 220, which shares its address with Jack and the Pack, a dog sporting equipment store.

Common interests

In addition to sharing the storefront that was once known as the 1950s-themed diner, Heartthrob Cafe, Brave the Snow and Jack and the Pack also have overlap when it comes to their customers.

Kicksledding can be an individual sport or the sleds can be pulled by one or two dogs.

Alexandra Johnson, owner of Jack and the Pack, a dog sporting equipment store that shares its storefront with kicksled retailer Brave the Snow, talks to customer Kevin Thomson, from Hugo, about kicksleds on display at her store on the corner of Seventh and Wabasha streets in downtown St. Paul on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“You can kicksled with any dog that likes to run,” said Alexandra Johnson, owner of Jack and the Pack. The most common breeds for pulling kicksleds are huskies and hounds, but Johnson said she’s seen corgis and dachshunds take on the task as well.

“You can go a mile or you can go 15 or 30 miles and see what you and your dog are capable of,” Johnson said, adding that the smaller the dog, the more work for the owner.

Johnson said Jack and the Pack, which opened this June with help from the St. Paul Downtown Alliance’s Grow Downtown program, offers musher lessons to help owners and their dogs train to use the kicksled together.

Last winter was the first season Johnson gave kicksledding lessons with dogs and she expects this season will be busier with Brave the Snow open for business.

Kicksledding is popular in Europe and Canada and is slowly gaining recognition in the U.S., Johnson said, noting that it started to gain traction during the onset of COVID-19.

“During the pandemic, kicksledding blew up a bit because everyone was looking to get outside and be active,” Johnson said.

St. Paul resident Gretchen Cudak gets pulled on her kicksled by her golden retriever Peaches in January 2023. Cudak bought her kicksled online from Brave the Snow, which opened its storefront in downtown St. Paul on Nov. 9, 2023. (Courtesy of Gretchen Cudak)

St. Paul resident Gretchen Cudak said Minnesota winters are easier to bear since she and her golden retriever Peaches started kicksledding together.

A year ago, Cudak didn’t know what kicksledding was. Then she saw a Facebook ad for Brave the Snow’s online shop, “and I thought, that’s the coolest thing ever,” she said.

Johnson helped outfit Peaches for the snow with the proper pulling harnesses and now Cudak said it’s how the duo travel around when they’re up north at the cabin.

While she doesn’t know of many other kicksledders, Cudak said hers has piqued interests among her friends and a neighbor once borrowed it to try out with her own dog.

Creating community

While it is a milestone, opening Brave the Snow is not the final frontier for Christensen.

She has several goals yet to be met including getting kicksleds to nearby nature centers and state parks and plans to launch an unofficial kicksled club in St. Paul.

Ari, a 9-year-old Alaskan husky, wears the pulling harness for a kicksled sold by Brave the Snow with a sled on display at Jack and the Pack, a dog sporting equipment store, and Brave the Snow’s shared storefront on the corner of Seventh and Wabasha streets in downtown St. Paul on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

St. Paulites can try out kicksleds for free this winter thanks to one of her customers – Ramsey County.

Ken Pelto, who works for Ramsey County to coordinate outdoor recreation programs, said the county invested in about six kicksleds from Christensen last year because of their versatility and accessibility.

Pelto said the county brought its kicksleds to a program for students with physical and developmental disabilities. The kicksleds were outfitted with proper harnesses so the students could safely sit on the bench as Pelto propelled the kicksled. Squeals of laughter ensued, he said.

“People who don’t have the ability to get out on skis and snowshoes can still experience sliding around on the snow,” Pelto said. “It was really one of the highlights of my working with Ramsey County.”

At Battle Creek Regional Park and some of the county’s libraries this winter there will be scheduled events with kicksleds available to try, Pelto said.

For now, kicksleds will be available from 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 26 to Dec. 31 at Battle Creek Regional Park. More dates will be announced and can be found on the county’s website.

“Winter can be awful,” Johnson said, “but not if you go kicksledding.”

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