There were no medals, and the technique was anything but smooth, but the sledders, skiers, and even snowshoers who packed Central Park yesterday seemed to transform the city’s snow-blanketed playground into their own Olympic village.

Children and pets in tow, countless New Yorkers trudged to the park with winter toys that ranged from high-priced cross-country skies to makeshift sleds fashioned from whatever could be found at home.

Silvi Sareva, 16, along with two friends, was bounding from hill to hill with a flattened cardboard Fresh Direct box wrapped in a clear plastic garbage bag.

“That’s all we need,” Sareva’s friend, Pamela Lowe, 16, said. For the three girls, cardboard sledding in Central Park is a winter tradition – albeit one that is tweaked from year to year.

“This year we added the plastic bags. Last year we just had the boxes,” Sareva said, before sliding down a bumpy drop a few blocks north of Columbus Circle.

Arriving in the midst of a mild winter, yesterday’s snowstorm brought relief to legions of snow-lovers who had waited weeks for the season’s first major snowfall. That it fell on a weekend was, for many, just icing on the cake. “It was great, coming on the weekend like this,” Kent Oz, 42, said. “It couldn’t have been better.”

Mr. Oz and his wife, Lisa, were taking turns riding with their 3-year old daughter, Josi, down a small hill on a green plastic sled. “As soon as she saw the snow this morning, she went crazy,” Mr. Oz said of Josi.

The whiteout created a spectacle for residents and visitors alike. Armin and Julia Pearn said they had never seen that much snow fall overnight where they grew up in Europe, in Germany and England, respectively. “We couldn’t see anything out our window,” Mr. Pearn said. “It was amazing.”

Whether wooden, plastic, or inflatable, sleds were the toys of choice in the park yesterday. Others, however, focused on footwear.

Christy Rizzo, 26, and two friends, Susan O’Hare, 28, and Kirsten Thompson, 26, said they stopped at Eastern Mountain Sports before heading to Central Park. They spent about $20 each renting snowshoes for the day. “You’re supposed to be able to walk on top of the snow,” Ms. Rizzo said.

Some found sleds, skis, and snowshoes to be unnecessary: The more than two feet of freshly fallen snow – along with an unsuspecting sibling target – proved enjoyment enough. On a path near Columbus Circle, Brian Lugo, 6, chased his brother with a hastily packed handful of snow. Bradley Lugo, 5, didn’t see him coming. As the boys tussled, their mother, Crystal Lugo, 25, and her boyfriend, Joseph Pando, 37, looked on, themselves covered in a dusting of white flakes.

“I think we’ll probably go home and melt,” Ms. Lugo said with a laugh.