Some days, it is the final pitch of the North Face of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps – during an ice storm, with all hope of rescue fading fast.

On other days, it is the last white-out mile of the first-ever solo ski expedition to the South Pole. Or it could be the iceberg-infested Northwest Passage to … delight.

It is all these, and also a humble, short slippery slope on the school playground and the winter avatar of imaginative recess invention.

When all 54 kids in the school glom together for a group slide down the little hill, they look like seals herding up on an Arctic ledge for warmth and safety. No doubt, polar bears and ravenous tiger sharks lurking at the bottom of the hill, in the deep water, waiting for the poor unwary lone pup to drop off. A frisson of terror – all the better! Delight can be a shriek as well as laughter.

You can be Sir Edmund Hillary urged on to the prize at the Pole, or forced back to base camp by the highest wind speed recorded by man – or teacher, frozen to the spot on playground duty.

“Help!” Hands stretch to span the crevasse, and the intrepid rescue party hauls another explorer to safety. No big deal. A daily event, before snack time.

Even superheroes show up on the slope. “My special super gloves are saving me,” said Drake one day, holding his Spiderman-clad hand aloft, one web holding him fast to the villainously slick route to safety.

And then there are the flat and slippery surfaces, like the diminutive ice rink on the kickball lawn. On this slippery arena, first-grader Tyler has every bit as much effectiveness as seventh-grader Big Matthew.

Slap shot windup? Ha! The goals are frozen milk jugs. The broom ball game is a ballet of giggles custom made for color commentary. And someone always obliges.

“Stearns passing up the middle – blocked by Koos – stolen by Smith – A shot from the blue line by Wood! Kick-save … McFadden! Cleared by Orr to Esposito.” “Orr”? “Esposito”? Just a flashback to my generation’s Boston Bruins. Ahem.

“Another spectacular save by the veteran goalie from Sears-port.”

“Yes, Chris, she really is having a terrific season here in the Schoolyard Hockey League.”

“It’s been great for this fledgling club to have the benefit of such experience and talent. As good on defense as on … the multiplication tables.”

“There’s even talk of Stanley Cup possibilities this year –”

“Now if the Cougars can just get by those Sedgwick Sabres … ”

“Unfortunately, their best forward is stuck on an expedition … to the North Face of the Eiger.”

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