Mission Valley family creates 600-foot slip n slide

CHARLO – While a quick jump into the lake maybe a sure-fire way to beat the scorching summer heat for most, one Charlo area family has found a more novel approach in the fight against sweltering temperatures.

At the Cheff ranch on Saturday afternoon, daring family and friends gathered to take turns staying cool on a massive homemade slip-n-slide that sent riders splishin’ and splashin' down a steep watery plastic-covered hillside.

“About 10 years ago, my husband brought home some discarded plastic from his family’s farm,” said Kate Lake, co-instigator of the slip-n-slide project. “We placed the plastic out in my parent’s field, ran some water on it and let the kids play on it.”

Kate furthered explained that she and her husband, Bo Lake, were curious as to the possibility of how big they could actually build the slip-n-slide, so they began adding more sections of plastic sheeting and inviting more people each year.

A steady trickle of water out of an irrigation pipe keeps things slippery down the slide, while too much slows the riders down. Many of the slide's fans have developed methods to go faster and further, including riding down as a multi-person train.

The self-dubbed “Montana’s Longest Homemade Slip-N-Slide” reached a length of just a smidge under two football fields this year.

“We hope to be bigger next year and have an official measurement,” said Kate.