The school bus may be one of the most hated vehicles by children on Earth; I know I was not particularly excited when it showed up to pick me up every morning. Every now and then, the winter weather would prevent us from being able to go to school and those days were probably the sweetest of the year. The children of La Pointe, on Madeline Island, defeat the winter storms to attend school by riding in what they call a windsled. The 9,000-pound sled is powered by two large fans and it carries 20 students to school over the frozen Lake Superior. In this case, having access to the windsled provides students with a safe transport to school so it is a very much liked home-grown solution. The windsled’s construction shows the ingenuity of humans when nature presents us with difficult obstacles to overcome. I can definitely imagine myself enjoying the ride to school every morning in the windsled.

Tags: school bus, Windsled