5 awesome winter adventures
Who says you can’t go out when it’s cold? Here are some ideas to get you having fun out there
Bomb down in a bobsled
What’s the difference between an actual Olympic bobsled ride and the one you can sign up for at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park? About 20 kilometres per hour. At the Olympic Park, with a professional driver at the wheel, you and three friends will hit 120 kilometres per hour, compared to 140 for Pierre Lueders’ Olympic crew. You’ll also experience up to five Gs as you bomb the 14 corners of the Calgary bobsled course in less than 60 seconds. ($165)
More information: Winsport Canada
Help train the dogs
Just as you can’t jump off the couch and run a marathon, the 135 huskies at Ontario’s Haliburton Forest can’t jump into a harness and pull a sled after a summer of lounging around the doghouse. They need to train and you can help by joining their handlers and looking after a sled team for a couple of days. The weekend includes two or three conditioning runs, where you’ll rip around the forest on a wheeled cart powered by pent-up husky muscle. ($280, November 27 to 29)
More information and reservations: Haliburton Forest
Watch really extreme skiers
Many of the planet’s top extreme skiers will be heading to B.C.’s Revelstoke Mountain Resort this winter for the first of four stops on the Freeskiing World Tour. You can watch from the ridge next to the course (or from TVs in the mid-mountain lodge) as 80 qualifiers navigate an exposed route through the chutes, cliffs and pillow drops of Revelstoke’s Greely and North bowls. The skiers will be judged on the fluidity and difficulty of their chosen lines. (January 6 to 10)
More information: Free Skiing World Tour
Skate on the world’s longest natural rink
Ottawa’s Rideau Canal may get all the attention, but Winnipeg lays claim to the world’s longest natural skating rink, the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail. Most winters, more than eight kilometres of the Assiniboine and Red rivers are cleared for skating from mid-January until early March. Special weekend events include snowbiking and a winter triathlon.
More information: River Trail
Ride the Shore
You don’t have to strap on the padding and the full-face helmet to go mountain biking in the woods of Vancouver’s infamous North Shore. There are plenty of trails that don’t involve skinnies, ramps and jumps. Rent a six-inch-travel, full-suspension bike from Different Bikes’ North Shore location, the closest shop to the trails, and head to the Seymour Demonstration Forest, where you can get a taste-X-C style-of what the Shore is about. ($60)
More information: Different Bikes
