5 unique winter sports to try this year

Do you think a little bit outside the box when it comes to enjoying winter sports? Then you will definitely savour in these five sports.

Shovel racing is a sport where you use a shovel to speed downhill rather than as a tool to clear your walkway of snow.

• Racers can descend over 100 kilometres per hour.
• The competitive sport, which began back in the 1970s in New Mexico, was even featured in the Winter X games.

Snow kayaking does not mean you glide over icy waterways with a blade attached underneath your canoe.

• Instead, snow kayakers wax their boat so they can race downhill at breathtakingly fast speeds, all the while using their paddles to navigate the boat.
• Obstacle courses have been set up for snow kayaking too, making the activity even more challenging.

A number of winter sports require participants to slide and glide downhill. Downhill ice skating is another example of this wintertime tendency.

• Participants skate over a course of full jumps and turns.
• You also have to be willing to skate at an unparalleled speed.
• Contests test the mettle of four participants.

While downhill ice skating and skiing require descending a hill, some winter sports participants prefer to climb up an icy slope instead.

• That is why ice climbing is also another winter sport that is popular among winter sports enthusiasts.
• Participants compete in events where they scale up Alpine ice, an icy residue that forms over the surface of water ice and inclines.

Ice sailing involves skimming over a frozen lake with customized skates and sails. You don't have to give up the summer sport of sailing if you outfit your yacht or sailboat for the winter activity.

Winter is a time when sports activity is at a fever-pitch in ski resort areas as well as northern locales. For people who are used to the cold of winter, these five activities are just a part of the excitement that is generated when one lives in a snowy climate.