Wiktionary
hard sledding
alt. difficulties, generally; a rough time. n. difficulties, generally; a rough time.
Usage examples of "hard sledding".
And naturally, with the emphasis on the importance of the individual, anything that didn't produce immediate, obvious benefits had hard sledding.
It was hard sledding, for he was the kind of coward who's too far gone even to clutch at straws - not my kind of funk at all.