Cold-weather trips for snow sports junkies—just because it’s freezing outside doesn’t mean you have to put your adventure on hold.
Sick of being cooped up inside? Here are 10 winter sports vacations that'll get your adrenaline pumping.
Winter is fast approaching — cold days, long nights, and a whole lotta snow (we hope). But autumn was never made to last, so stop your moping and break out the snow gear, because it’s time to dive into a whole new batch of cold-weather sports to keep your adrenaline pumping and your nature deficit disorder at bay. To that end, we’ve gathered—for your adventurous side—the 10 best winter journeys and sports in the country. So dress warm and charge headlong into the great wintry outdoors. Bring on the snow.
When winter hits, Yosemite champion John Muir’s spectacular Range of Light--the Sierras--is blanketed with a serene white carpet of snow, and Yosemite Valley becomes a quiet, empty refuge for nature lovers seeking adventure. To fully appreciate this rare, uncrowded Yosemite, take an overnight snowshoe hike—the dominant mode of winter transportation in Muir’s day—from the Badger Pass ski area 10 miles out to Ostrander Lake via one of two ski trails: Bridalveil Creek (intermediate) or Merced Crest (expert). Stay in Ostrander Ski Hut, tucked in a bowl beneath Horse Ridge at 8,600 feet (free wilderness permit required,) and return the next day by the alternate trail to make it a loop. (More information: nps.gov)
Dubbed the Snowmobile Capital of the World, Eagle River is the obvious choice for motorized thrills along winter trails. Tread your chosen path along 500 miles of groomed and well-marked trails across endless forests and lakes, or sign up for a snowmobile tour with one of Eagle River’s guiding companies, like Decker Sno-Venture Tours. The five-day Classic Copper Harbor takes you from Eagle Creek to Copper Harbor, Michigan, and back through glorious deep snow. ($895, January 27 to February 1; snowmobileeagleriver.com)
One of the top mushing (a.k.a. dog sledding) adventure companies in the country, Minnesota-based Wintergreen offers day trips and lodge-to-lodge multi-day packages. But the more intrepid can choose weeklong dogsled camping adventures in the Boundary Waters’ border wilderness to visit Indian pictographs in Sunday Bay and the Painted Cliffs of Lac La Croix ($1,275, January 28 to February 3). For the truly adventurous, Wintergreen also offers a 10-day Arctic trip along the remote northern tundra of Canada’s Polar Bear National Park to the legendary community of Churchill on Hudson Bay, where guests learn about climate change, Eskimo culture, and the beauty of the Northern Lights. ($3,400, March 29 to April; dogsledding.com)
More than 2,000 square miles of skiable terrain on the southeastern edge of the Chugach Range rise from Points North Heli-Adventures’ back door, and their guests have it all to themselves. Wake up on a bluebird day and come to your senses atop remote peaks with 360-degree vistas, then drop into the best untapped, powdery run of your life—again and again. After a day of 8-12 runs, head back to Cordova—accessible only by ferry or plane—and PNH’s Orca Adventure Lodge for a steaming wood sauna and fresh-caught Copper River salmon. Sleep and repeat. (7 nights, $5,275, includes meals, lodging, avalanche gear, and 4 hours flight time; alaskaheliski.com)
Choose your own adventure in the continent’s largest hut system, a network of 14 huts connecting over 300 miles of skiable routes. Conceived by Fritz Benedict, a former 10th Mountain Division soldier, the hut system spans the division’s former training grounds and the best of Colorado’s pristine ski terrain between Aspen, Vail, and Leadville. Have yourself an overnighter, or link up a handful of the upscale huts—complete with wood-fired stoves and private rooms—for a custom, self-guided ski tour (from $33 per person, per night; huts.org)
Home to the annual Ouray Ice Festival, Ouray’s Ice Park attracts top ice climbers from around the world. Developed on a one-mile stretch of the Uncompahgre Gorge, the park boasts over 200 climbing routes and more than three vertical miles of terrain. Advanced ice climbers can climb free at their leisure, while beginners can sign up for a two-day Intro to Ice Climbing course with San Juan Mountain Guides. Gradually move to steeper routes as guides teach you proper technique, gear use, and decision making ($395, includes ice equipment; ourayclimbing.com)
Adrenaline requires only a simple equation: one metal bullet on ice, five G’s of force, 80 miles per hour, fifteen turns in under a mile. Expect nothing less from Utah Olympic Park’s Winter Comet Bobsled Ride, in which one professional bobsled pilot steers three passengers down the entire Olympic track used in Salt Lake’s 2002 Winter Games ($200 per person; add a Rocket Skeleton Ride for $25; utaholympiclegacy.com)
Expand your winter playground with SWS Mountain Guides’ winter ascent of California’s 14,505-foot Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S. Intermediate and advanced climbers learn the finer points of mountaineering—rope team travel, snow protection placement, high camp establishment, and avalanche hazard evaluation—along with a basic review of crampon and ice ax techniques. The four-day course culminates in a summit push from Lone Pine via the gruelling Mountaineer’s Route ($995; swsmtns.com)
Beach bums and pros know surfing isn’t just a summer sport. Pacific winter swells batter the coast for optimal surfing conditions at locales like Santa Barbara’s Rincon Point, where you may spot some of the world’s best, like Kelly Slater or Bobby Martinez, dropping in. You won’t find solitude in the surf here, but don a warm wetsuit, follow proper surfer etiquette, and you’ll score a few epic rides.
No need to put that mountain bike away come winter. With companies like Surly and Salsa Cycles building burly new fat bikes, fat biking—mountain biking with huge snow-ready tires—is the growing two-wheeled winter sport of choice. Wyoming’s Grand Targhee Resort fully embraces fat bikes on its Nordic trail system, the nation’s first ski resort to do so. Float one or two laps around the 10-mile loop, then head back to the village for an ostrich steak or local elk strip loin dinner. ($10 Nordic ticket; grandtarghee.com)
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10 Winter Vacations to get Your Adrenaline Sports Fix