Don’t let the freezing temperatures drive your indoors! Harness the cold weather conditions (like the gent in the featured image, above, by dirkgroeger) with these 10 adrenaline-rush winter activities.

10) Tour skate – Åland, Finland

Skating around and around and around an ice rink gets boring – freestyling a route around a frozen lake on the other hand…

Cross-country ski. Photo: Christian Haugen

9) Cross-country ski – Beitostølen, Norway

The trouble with skis is they only take you downhill. Take a turn for the better, and shuffle your way around the Jotunheimen National Park cross-country style.

Snowshoe – Yosemite National Park. Photo: mariachily

8) Snowshoe – Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Strap a pair of John McEnroe’s old rackets to your feet and go ape (or should that be yeti?)

Ice climbing at Ouray, Colorado. Photo: katsrcool (Kool Cats Photography)

7) Ice-climb – Ouray, Colorado, USA

Climbing a regular wall is so passé. A wall drenched in super slippery ice is where it’s at these days.

Dog-sledding in Alaska. Photo: neil alejandro

6) Dog-sled – Exit Glacier, Alaska, USA

Sledding is traditionally a solo affair. Lonely it is not though, when you’re hitting the road with eight new furry (though not cuddly!) friends. Mush!

Mountaineeringin Mont Blanc. Photo: katclay

5) Mountaineer – Mont Blanc, France

At 4,810.45 m (15,782 ft), Mont Blanc is the tallest peak in Europe. Join a guided ascent to write a story you’d really be proud of telling the grandkids.

4) Fat bike – Alta, Wyoming, USA

Riding a bike with giant inflatable tires over snow – for times when riding a normal bike on a smooth road has gotten too easy.

Glacier trek - New Zealand. Photo: awiemuc

3) Glacier trek – Fox Glacier, New Zealand

A glacier is like a living being. Flowing slowly and weathered from above, it’s constantly evolving. Take a stroll over one and technically speaking you’ll have cramponed where no one has cramponed before.

Bobsleigh in Canada. Photo: gizmin0

2) Bobsleigh – Calgary, Canada

Jump aboard what you might call a bathtub on rails as it hurtles down Canada Olympic Park’s track at speeds of up to 75 mph. The good news? The driver’s a professional. The bad news? The 14-turn ride only lasts 60 seconds.

1) Heli-ski – Banff, Canada

It’s a frustrating fact of life that many of the world’s best skiing country isn’t accessible by lift. Solution: make a taxi of a helicopter, and fly your way to the top of a virgin powder run.

Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…

Brett Ackroyd (580 Posts)

Travel writer for Hg2 | A Hedonist's guide to...™ and contributor to Cheapflights Travel Blogs.

Dog Sled, Heli Ski, mountain climbing, Skiing, slider, snowshoe, winter sports