10/11/2024

Winter Sports You Probably Never Knew Existed

Looking at all of the popular winter sports, one might think that there are only several options. However, there are lots of sports in general that we don’t know about. In fact, new sports are being invented constantly. It’s just that not all of them live up to the hype and don’t attract much attention. Moreover, some sports are mainly a part of tradition or culture so only natives are familiar with them. Here we will go over some of the winter sports that you probably haven’t heard of up until now. 

Ski Joëring

This looks pretty fun, and if you are good at skiing you should definitely give it a go, provided it’s available. Basically, it’s a combination of horse sledding and skiing. You need to maintain your balance and hold onto the frame pulled by a horse. It’s an amazing way to enjoy the scenic vistas and while traversing snowy mountains. 

Snow Kayaking 

Snow is just frozen water, which means kayaking is a valid way to get around when you wish to go fast downhill. This is extremely fun and exciting, and the name itself pretty much paints the exact picture of how it looks. It can also be dangerous so stick to the track that’s been tested and make sure you carry your safety gear if you wish to give it a go. 

flickr user “abkfenris”, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Shovel Racing 

It may sound silly or like something that only people would do in order to create a viral video, but believe it or not, this is a real thing. The sport started back in the 70s on the hills of New Mexico. The explanation is quite simple, people were bored of taking the lift to get all the way to the bottom of the hill and decided that sitting on a shovel would be way more entertaining. They even started holding competitions every year, but the fun had to stop. The sports were deemed too dangerous, so it never became an actual competition. 

Ski Biking 

Here is another fun way to take on downhill slopes. Get yourself a ski bike which is a combination of skis and a bicycle. This is actually a great alternative for the tourists who have problems with their knees and cannot ski as a result. You can sit and navigate the bike, instead of standing. 

Yukigassen 

Snowball fights are fun, but very soon they become boring. Do you know why? Because there are no rules to determine who wins. Now with Yukigassen that can change, and you can have an actual all-out snowball fight. It’s a game where you need to capture the opposing team’s flag, and you need to hide behind the barriers to avoid getting hit by snowballs. If you get hit you are out.