Western Pennsylvania has the hills. All you need is snow, and you’ve got a perfect place for sledding and tobogganing. 

Of course, you need a sled or toboggan. Unless you happen to have, say, an old truck tire tube or a cafeteria lunch tray on which to go slip-sliding away.

If you want to buy some new gear, the array of options might surprise you. You still can go dashing through the snow old-school. L.L. Bean sells steerable wood Dash sleds with steel runners — “built the way they were when you were a kid” — for $139 (llbean.com). 

Even more old-fashioned are the company’s curved wood toboggans. An extra-long one with a cushion and buffalo plaid cover can be had for $259. 

That one’s a little more like a piece of fine furniture than a sled, but L.L. Bean also offers the what-could-be-simpler steel saucer. Their $39.95 version carries the name and eagle logo of Flexible Flyer, the original steerable sled that was invented in Pennsylvania in 1889. (There’s a sled museum in the Old Sled Works in Duncannon and a sled exhibit in the Pennsylvania SnowSports Museum at Camelback Mountain Resort in the Poconos.)

There’s still a Pennsylvania manufacturer of sleds and toboggans. EMSCO Group is, appropriately, smack in the snow belt east of Erie in Girard. Its ESP Sports Products division makes newfangled plastic, foam and inflatable sleds and backyard snowboards that you can find at various retailers. They even make the BodySled, comprised of five pieces that you wear strapped to your bottom, hands and feet.

Unlike the old inner tubes, snowtubes like EMSCO’s have two grab handles, a center seat panel and, most importantly, really cool graphics.   

“It’s a fashion industry,” says EMSCO president Steve Oas, who says they’re already working on next season’s translucent, tie-dye looks. But some things don’t change much: The most popular products are basic plastic toboggans, long ones and round ones. 

“They fill a niche for an affordable Christmas gift,” he said.

Kohl’s sells snowtubes that look like sprinkle doughnuts and one with the crying laugh emoji ($30, kohls.com). There are snowtubes shaped like triangles, too, and inflatables that are rectangular like sleds. 

REI has an inflatable toboggan, with curved front and all, made by the nicely named Lucky Bums. The Idaho-based company also makes a sturdy-looking plastic saucer and rectangular toboggan ($29.93, $19.95 and $34.95 at REI stores or rei.com).

For the littlest sledders, some products just look safer than others. Kohl’s has an Airhead infant snow shoe inflatable snow sled that looks like a tennis shoe ($16.99). Target’s offerings include a sturdy plastic sled ($14.99) with a lap belt and back support for riding or pulling baby through the snow. If that’s more your non-speed, check out the L.L. Bean Rambler winter wagon set. It’s a wagon until the snow hits. Then you swap the tires for plastic skis ($269). 

But if downhill speed is what you need, you might want to hop on the futuristic Hammerhead Pro XLD Sled ($139 at Kohl’s), which features an aircraft aluminum frame and polycarbonate skis. 

You can take it up a notch with the snowmobile-like, sit-on Moto Zips sold by places such as Toys R Us. Themes include Minions and “Star Wars” Stormtrooper ($89.99). The toy store also sells a stand-on Freshie Snow Scooter ($39.99) and more traditional snowboards.

Dick’s Sporting Goods offers the Airhead Shred snow skateboard ($29.99, dickssportinggoods.com), that it claims “rides more like a skateboard or sled and is easy to grab for awesome tricks and flips in the fresh pow.” (That’s powder for you wooden sledders.) 

Dick’s also has the Outer Edge Summit Surfer 2-in-1 Sled ($49.99), on which you can sit or stand. 

You can surf the snow on shorter, squarish Snow Boogie boards, too, including a cute youth one that looks like a penguin ($19.99). And what could be more appropriate than the Snow Speedster ($29.99) with graphics from the Disney movie “Frozen”?

While you’re thinking about gear: It’s a good idea to protect your head with some kind of a helmet and to use your head and not sled on a hill that’s too dangerous or where sledding is prohibited. Some area parks have designated sledding areas, and every neighborhood has favorite slopes. 

From 7:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the L.L. Bean store at Ross Park Mall is presenting a clinic, “Favorite Local Winter Sports Destinations,” that will include some sledding spots. Sign up at www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001727?page=store-pittsburgh.

Bob Batz Jr.: bbatz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1930 and on Twitter @bobbatzjr.

First Published: December 17, 2016, 5:32 a.m.