Best Things to do in Winter

All the Fun Winter Sports & Activities!

I know for a lot of people, once the temperatures start to drop, and the nights become longer, so do their frustrations. For most people, the winter season is a drag, but for me, it is my favorite season. And here are all the reasons why I love the winter, and hopefully you can find a thing or two, that will change your perspective about the winter as well!

1. I will recommend this activity until the day I die, I LIVE for this sport! And that is SKIING!!! Or snowboarding, but I grew up skiing, and tried snowboarding once, safe to say, I know a little more about skiing than I do snowboarding! And I would rather spend my day cruising than bruising. Anyways, skiing is SUCH a fun sport. It gets you outside in the winter, allows you to travel to different mountains, make new friends on the chairlifts, pushes your boundaries, it really is an amazing sport!

And there are runs for everybody on the mountain, they don’t just offer crazy difficult terrain, every mountain has a beginner area. So don’t worry, you will find something that you can ski or snowboard down. That being said, I would still recommend looking up different mountains, because you will find more mountains are more suited from beginners, than others. While other mountains are more geared towards intermediates and experts.

Now, if you are an advanced skier, and know a thing or two about cross-country skiing (nordic skiing), then an AWESOME activity for you to try (which you probably already know about) is backcountry skiing! Now, this activity is definitely for ADVANCED skiers ONLY, for many reasons. First, backcountry skiing involves trekking unmarked trails to ski/snowboard down, that are again, unmarked, and usually involve many cliff/rock jumps, narrow shoots, many trees, and overall just gnarly terrain. Thus, avalanches can be heavily prevalent and you will need to know what you’re doing, and the area you’re trekking in. Here is a guide for backcountry gear!

Also, if it is your first time ever, skiing or snowboarding, then, I recommend getting private lessons and renting gear from the ski shop at the mountain you go to. Because this will probably be the cheapest option, and you will learn the most. You could do a group beginner lesson instead, and I believe those are the cheapest lessons you can get, however, since it wouldn’t be individual, you won’t learn as much. But that being said, again, I would look up the mountain’s different lessons offered, because, again, every mountain is different. Here are two articles that I wrote, recommending different ski resorts along the east coast, and in the west (of the United States)! These should help with what mountains to choose from. But, that being said, skiing/snowboarding in general will make the winter FLY by!

You probably already know, but the North Face has great outdoor clothing options, from jackets to snow pants, to hats to gloves, in general they have a lot of great outdoor clothing!

2. Okay, the second activity I recommend is, WINTER HIKING! If you’ve hiked in the spring/summer, you have some experience in this activity, just not the cold. But at least you’ll know about the serious elevation gains you can get from hiking, so you’ll be prepared for that. However, gear wise, winter hiking, is MUCH more serious. Because, like anything in the cold, you have to worry about things freezing, hypothermia, and frostbite. If you are a skier/snowboarder, I recommend using A LOT of the same equipment that you use for that, as you would, for winter hiking. You should wear the same layering techniques with your clothes, same jacket, snow pants, NECK WARMERS/GADERS, goggles, hats, gloves, and socks.

Now, for different gear to use, you will need snowshoes, trekking/hiking poles, micro spikes or crampons, and at times ice picks (for high elevations to help with ice). A GREAT store to get winter or any outdoor equipment is, Outdoor Gear Exchange. They are located in Burlington, Vermont, but also have a website, and seriously, they offer EVERYTHING outdoors! They offer great ski gear, skis, snowboards, micro spikes, hiking bags/shoes, different outdoor clothing, and much more, they really have it all! The rule of thumb for hiking in the snow, is to wear your snowshoes in snow that is over 8 inches, under 8 inches, you’re fine with just wearing your micro spikes. They have this rule to prevent “post holing.” Again, this helps with erosion and the natural melting of the snow.

Now, for layering, for winter hiking, what I do, is wear a thin pair of socks, then my super thick ski socks (Darn Tough, has great socks you can find for winter hiking and skiing/snowboarding), and then my winter hiking boots. Now, my winter hiking boots are what I use for the summer as well, but they are made with leather, so they repel water/snow really well. You can also wear different snow boots while you hike. It is your preference. But here are some great winter hiking boots, that I would wear.

Then, for my legs, I wear, a pair of Under Armor long johns, then a pair of sweat pants, then my snow pants. You could remove the sweatpants, I just wear those for really cold days, or you could keep a pair in your backpack. Then, for my arms, I will wear an Under Armor long sleeve thermal shirt, then a sweatshirt or crewneck shirt, then my winter jacket. Then I wear a light neck warmer, that I have also been using as a mask, to protect against Covid, then I will bring two thicker ones in my bag, in case I get colder.

And also wear THICK gloves, again, sometimes, I will wear a thin pair of gloves, then my thicker (ski gloves) on top. Also, bring hats, you can buy ski masks, that go over your head as well, which keep you warmer (in my opinion), I like to use, this head-wrap type thing. It goes over my head, unto my shoulders, and has a cinching option, so only my eyes can show at times, kind of like a sweatshirt. I wish I knew where I got it from, but my mom got it when she was really young, and just gave it to me. This and this are the best products I can show you, to try and describe what I’m saying.

Now, I recommend bringing a pretty decent sized bag, here are some great ones. But if you’re just doing a small hike, you won’t need to bring a lot of gear. However, finding the right water bottle when hiking in the winter can be tricky, because your water can freeze on you, especially the CamelBak straws (this has happened to me a couple times this year). Here is a great article explaining the different ways to keep your water from freezing in the winter.

Now, the most fun part about this activity is, the butt sliding! Getting up will be challenging, especially if you have to break the trail, but going down, and of course, seeing the summit, will make that work so worth it! For winter hiking, going down will take much less time than in the summer. Because on the really steep parts, you can sit your butt down, and literally sled down. I haven’t done it yet, but can’t wait to try, because all the videos I’ve seen look SUPER fun! Anyways, this is a GREAT activity!

3. The third activity I recommend is ice skating! You can take lessons at a local rink, or if you have a friend that’s nice enough to teach you, you guys can go to a rink and get started! Or you can go to a local pond, once it’s frozen (I would wait until mid January to February, depending on where you live, and how cold the temperatures have been) to skate on it.

If you’re looking for another great outdoor gear website, Salomon, has great stuff! They sell GREAT ski’s and ski boots, as well as great hiking boots, and gear. Salomon is an all around AWESOME brand!

4. The next activity I recommend is, ice climbing, now ice climbing I have never done, but it looks awesome! I would really only do this, if you have prior rock climbing experience, because some of the climbing techniques and gear, are very similar, but it definitely looks intense. Thus, make sure you do your research, and beginner climbs, before you do the harder stuff. Like anything, just be smart about it. Here is an article explaining this sport much better than I can, if you want to give it a try!

5. Our next activities, are a little less death-defying, cross-country skiing & snowshoeing. These are two great activities, especially if you want to ease into a winter sport. You can snowshoe on different walking trails, and go for as long or as little as you want. It’s also a good intro into winter hiking. Now, for cross-country skiing, you might want to have a small lesson before you go out, just because it’s a lot of new gear to incorporate, compared to snowshoeing.

That being said, there are plenty of places that offer different cross-country trails or nordic skiing trails, here are some great places in upstate New York. But any nordic center should have lessons available if you go on their website. Also, it’s like hiking, I would start off with easier trails, than go to harder ones.

6. This next activity, should bring up some childhood nostalgia, but I’m going to recommend it anyways, that is, sledding! This is SUCH a fun time, and great way to relieve some stress! Literally, all you have to do, is buy a sled, drive or walk to a hill, then sit on the sled, give a little push, then you are off! You could also go to a local tubbing mountain as well!

7. Another great winter sport, is hockey! Obviously this sport, takes some practice, and you will need to know how to ice skate, and have some of the equipment, and more than 1 person to play. But hey, it could be a great way to make some new friends!

8. Another activity you can do, is ice fishing! Now, I have never attempted this, but it looks pretty fun. It looks like, people stay in these different little huts, that are heated. I’ve been told that some of them, even have tv’s, and much more high tech gadgets! Here is an article explaining much more about this activity than I can!

9. Another fun activity, is snow camping! Which is similar to summer camping, but with a twist! Here is an article with much more detail!

10. Another fun activity is snowmobiling! Again, I have never done this, so I can’t really talk about it, which is why I’m going to link another article, here, with much more information about it!

11. Our last winter activity you can do this winter, is curling. This is actually an Olympic sport, and is how I found out about this activity. It is played on an ice rink, but you don’t wear ice skates, so you don’t need to know how to ice skate. There are two teams, and it’s kind of like shuffle board, but instead of throwing the disk, the offensive team, will sweep the ice to try and make the disk go faster or slower to get into scoring positions. Here is an article that will better explain the sport.

And that wraps up this list of different outdoor winter sports/activities you can do during this season. I hope you found something you want to give a try, and to help you enjoy a really misunderstood season. Take care, thank you so much for reading, and get outside!

P.S. If you live in New York, two GREAT ski/snowboard mountains are, Gore and Whiteface! Here are some places to stay at for Gore, and here are some places for Whiteface! These are also great places in general to tube, cross-country ski, snowshoe, and winter hike at!