With a grin of pride, father Bruno Morerod praises his youngest son, Joël, as he tenderly adds some touches of paint to their latest creation made of ash – the craftsmanship of the Morerod brand.

Both of them give no more than a weary smile at the mention of traditional Davos toboggans. This is because the low centre of gravity and flexible runners of their rockets enable them to navigate bends that are a lot more narrow and give you a completely different feeling when you are astraddle one of them. What’s more, the runners are specially coated to ensure a top-speed tobogganing experience.

Bruno and his son glue twelve wooden slats together like a sandwich and proceed to stretch it over the runner mould. The glue-soaked wood hardens in its curved position before the stiff runner is sawn into two the next day. This is the only way to guarantee that the left and right sides are virtually identical and really move in a straight direction.

He used to whiz down the pass road in a bob-like multi-seated toboggan with friends. This super-fast toboggan no longer exists – and Bruno tells how it met with an accident, which he doesn’t want to go into in any more detail. But his passion for tobogganing is as strong as ever.

The Morerods assemble just 10 to 15 of these exquisite rockets each year. They earn their living doing carpentry and joinery work. But building toboggans is the highlight for every one of their employees.

They all get together regularly for their night-time tobogganing session. It goes without saying that they all have their own toboggans. The hand-crafted rockets cost CHF 600 each in the shops.

It’s recommended that tobogganers take a look at the twisting bends in advance in daylight. This doesn’t apply to the Morerods, of course, who know the entire seven-kilometre run like the back of their hand.

Anyone who has ever been on one of their toboggans very soon realises why they want to keep on thundering down the run again and again – it’s incredibly exhilarating.