Welcome to the ice age.

North America's early settlers were forced to adapt to the cold climate to survive. Intense cold and frozen lakes and rivers made travelling any distance a difficult task, and pioneers faced challenges searching for food and finding warm clothing. Today most of our basic needs are more easily satisfied, thanks to these early pioneers. Americans in northern cities no longer have to "hibernate" during the winter; the traditional winter survival activities are now leisure activities. Technology has made participating in winter sports much easier; new materials such as insulate and waterproof liners let people endure the elements much longer. Travel to rural destinations in the winter was difficult at the turn of the century. Today, travel in the winter poses few problems.

The traditional winter sports--cross-country skiing, curling, downhill skiing, figure skating, hunting and trapping, ice fishing, ice hockey, ski jumping, snowshoeing, speed skating, and tobogganing--used to be left to just a handful the hale and hearty. Today, more and more people are winter sports enthusiasts. We have become more mobile and affluent, and more interested in rural activities. Some researchers report negative attitudes to winter; some even refer to conditions associated with the cold climate as a "seasonal affective disorder." Many people from the north used to flock south for the winter to avoid the cold conditions. Today more people are deciding to stay and enjoy the winter.

In the 1960s and '70's there was a trend toward moving outdoor winter sports indoors. We built indoor curling rinks, indoor arenas and acrylic ice surfaces. In the 1990s activities which are not formally organized and can only be experienced outdoors are gaining in popularity. Urban winter outdoor recreational activities are declining in popularity. The interest has shifted to rural-based leisure activities. Many small rural communities which previously had only one tourist season are growing by offering year ~round opportunities. Golf courses are converted to cross-country ski trails and snowshoeing areas. Waterfront resorts are now clearing the ice for skating, hockey, ice fishing and curling. Many summer activities such as golf, softball and ultimate Frisbee are being adapted for the winter.

In addition to traditional winter sports, a plethora of new and exciting sports have sprung up over the past few decades:

Snowmobiling

Although transportation vehicles for use in snow have been in existence for more than 50 years, the snowmobile's perfection to the point where it was mobile, reliable and inexpensive enough to be enjoyed as a recreational vehicle did not occur until the 1960s. Since then this winter sport has grown rapidly. The snowmobile has opened new vistas for winter camping, fishing, hunting and trapping and has become an integral part of excursions into the wilderness. In recent years unused railroad beds have been designated for winter usage by snowmobilers.

In addition, snowmobiling is today a sport unto itself, with cross-country touring or racing, time trials (snowmobile drag racing) and circuit racing. There are even events known as "snowdoeos" where a variety of activities and competitions are staged to delight spectators and participants alike. Thousands of snowmobile clubs now exist in North America, with a total membership of close to a million.

The equipment needed to participate, in addition to the snowmobile itself, includes specially designed boots, mitts and snowsuits. All these are important for warmth, wind protection and impermeability. A real challenge is to find a helmet that offers warmth and protection against the dangers of 50 mph plus speeds. Overall the clothing will cost from $350 to $800, depending on the quality selected. The snowmobile itself is a more costly investment, with more than 25 models produced by the four leading manufacturers. The range of prices is from $4,000 to well over 10,000. The average touring snowmobile costs between $5,500 to $6,500.

Freestyle Skiing 

This sport is the youngest member of the snow skiing family. Included under this one title are the separate activities of aerial, ballet and mogul skiing. In the early 1970s when it was known as "hot-dog skiing" there were some skiers practicing all three of the sports. However, freestyle skiing did not become common, nor was it recognized as an internationally competitive event until the mid 1980s. The 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada, included freestyle skiing as a demonstration sport and it proved to be very popular with the spectators. In the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, freestyle skiers competed in mogul skiing with full medal status. The 1994 Olympics, to be held in Lillehammer, Norway, will include aerial skiing and ballet skiing will likely have achieved medal status by 1998.

Aerial Skiing

This sport can be best described as a combination of downhill skiing, gymnastics and ski jumping. Skiers build speed on an in-run, leading to a ramp, that allows them to propel themselves up to 20 meters in the air. After "take off" the skier performs a series of inverted twists and somersaults, landing on a hill which has a slope of 37 to 39 degrees and a length of 30 meters. The challenge is to gain as much height as possible, travel the greatest distance, perform with form and precision while in the air and land with stability. In competition two series are judged.

Ballet Skiing

In this case the performance is on a gentle slope (12 to 15 degrees) with a length of 220 to 250 meters. The participants traverse the length of the slope performing a variety of spins, dance steps, multiple rotations, jumps, and flips. All this is choreographed to music very similar to that used in figure skating. In competition the routines are limited to two minutes.

Mogul Skiing

Every skier has experienced the odd bump or dip (moguls) in the face of a run. With mogul skiing, a steep hill (23 to 32 degrees) is dotted with these moguls. The challenge in this sport is to negotiate the face of the hill, leaping into the air from time to time, without losing control. In competition a course is set from top to bottom on the hill, which can be from 200 to 270 meters long. The sport is judged using time, technique and form as the criteria.

Until recently the number of ski hills that could accommodate freestyle skiers were very few, but more and more ski areas are adding freestyle hills. The equipment used would appear to be very similar to that for downhill skiing to the uninformed observer. However the skis, boots, bindings and poles are modified to meet the specific conditions found in each of the three subsets of freestyle skiing.

Snowboarding

One of the newest snow sports is snowboarding, which uses a combination of surfing and skateboarding techniques. Two separate developments began in the late 1970s. In France the sport, known as "monoskiing," developed using waterskiing as the model. The equipment used was a wide ski with parallel bindings. In North America the sport became known as skiboarding and later snowboarding. The North American version was modeled after surfing, with the bindings offset.

Two types of snowboards are used today. The freestyle board is curved at both the tip and tail and is shorter than the slalom board, used almost exclusively for competition. The slalom board is less flexible and gives the boarder less mobility. Both hard and soft boots have been developed for use with the snowboard, with each type having its proponents. Specially padded gloves and pants are also available. A board can range from $275 to $800 and boots, gloves and pants will add an additional $100 to $300.

Snowboarders use the same facilities as downhill skiers. During the 1993 ski season, some ski hill operators have reported that on certain days up to 40 percent of the traffic is from snowboard enthusiasts! A survey of randomly selected sporting good stores throughout Ontario and Quebec reported that sales of snowboards increased 60 percent over the last two years, making it difficult to keep many types of boards in stock.

Ringuette

Although the game was first played as an alternative to ice hockey for girls in Ontario in 1963 the popularity of ringuette did not spread to today's international status until the 1980s. In 1993 there are thousands of girls and women who are active in this vigorous ice sport. For the uninitiated, it is easier to describe ringuette by its similarity to ice hockey. It is played on ice wearing skates, using a stick and a ring. The object is to shoot the ring into the opposing team's goal.

The equipment used is one of the major differences between ringuette and hockey. The stick is nothing like a standard hockey stick since it has no blade. It is a straight handle from three to five feet long (depending on the height of the player), with a tapered end. The ring is made of soft rubber and has an outside diameter of 6.25 inches and an inside diameter of 4.25 inches. This allows the player to place the stick in the center of the ring and thereby achieve greater control while stick handling. Major rules that greatly change the complexion of the game in comparison with ice hockey are: there is no physical contact allowed; the ring must be passed across both the offensive and defensive bluelines and no players, with the exception of the goalie, are allowed in the goal area.

The cost to outfit one player including skates, stick, helmet, special gloves and padding is in the neighborhood of $200 to $300. Additional expenses are incurred when the game is played indoors, since ice rental can be as high as $150 per hour in some areas of the country. However, in most cases the subsidized ice rental fee will be under $50 an hour.

Ice Boating/Ice Surfing

As with many of the ice/snow activities growing popular in recent years, ice boating has been around for 50 years, but the motivation to participate for large numbers of people and the availability of equipment did not exist until the 1970s. Now modern technology has created boats that are durable, easy to transport, easy to rig, safe and reasonably priced. You can buy a good used ice boat for less than $1,000 and inexpensive kits, for the person handy at that sort of thing, are available starting at $1,600. The price for a finished boat begins at about $3,200. The sport of ice surfing is so new that there is not yet an officially acceptable term. The sport began only five to six years ago and much of the early equipment was homemade. Both these sports can be linked to their summer counterparts for a better understanding. Ice boating is similar to sailing a small one-person sailboat. In the winter version the hull is very flat and it rides on outrigger skates that skim across the ice. Ice surfing can be best understood by comparing it to windsurfing. Once again the equipment is essentially the same except that the ice surfer rides on blades while standing aloft on the surfboard; by grasping the wishbone, the ice surfer can direct the craft across the frozen ice surface.

One of the things ice boaters/ice surfers claim is that their sport is not a cold sport. To the contrary, most have tried both summer and winter sailing and claim the summer version can be much colder when one takes the plunge into the waters of a summer lake and then re-emerges to the windy conditions of sailing. Proper attire and protection are necessary for all ice boaters/surfers. Although the water of summer may sometimes be colder to the participant, when one spills, the impact of the water is never harder than the ice of winter.

Snow Tubing

The sport of tubing has gone beyond being a summer sport and is now enjoyed during the winter. Snow tubing has begun to grow in popularity with those who love high speed and being almost out of control. Tubing began informally with people using old innertubes by testing them on the snow. Given an innertube, a slope and the right snow conditions, you are off. In tubing you start at the bottom and work your way up. Some carry their tubes and others attach a rope or cord to drag it up the slope. The most common tubes used are over-inflated truck or automobile innertubes. Many downhill ski resorts and golf courses are starting to design snow tubing runs which are clear of trees and offer a lift to the top of the hill.

In 1974 the National Snow Tube championships were held in Minneapolis. Since then innertube snow racing has become popular. Tubing events are often held in conjunction with other events such as skiing races or special events days on the slopes. Tubing can be a dangerous winter sport. The tubes should be small enough to be controlled by the rider and there should only be one person per tube. Snow tubing should only be done in open areas where there are no trees or rocks, or on commercial slopes designed for tubing.

Winter, ice and snow are now being seen as an opportunity for many who previously dreaded the cold weather. As we approach the 21st century the "ice age" is becoming a greater part of every North American's life. Positive attitudes are leading to an increase in activities available to everyone.

The increased interest in winter activities is resulting in fewer people travelling long distances to a warmer climate. Communities are slowly beginning to realize the revenue-generating opportunities of offering recreational programs year ~round. Traditionally, facilities are forced to reduce staff at the end of the summer due to low demand for programming in the winter. Professionals in the field of leisure service delivery must be at the forefront of planning winter activities on blade, runner and ski. Leisure service professionals should continue to increase programming to keep up with the trends.