| Emily Cox shows that tubing is one of the favorites during the winter. |
Living in the desert affords many kinds of recreation during the spring, summer and fall months, so many people think the winter is not a good time to go outside. But they are wrong!
The proliferation of winter time activities continues to grow as our sports minded society comes up with new (and some twists on old) ways to enjoy the snow on the ground even when it’s cold outside.
Few people who grow up in climates that have winter snow have not been thrilled by the downhill slide of a sled or tube.
And while not everyone in snow country skis, either downhill or cross country, most have at least been exposed to it in some way or another. Certainly the Olympic experience in Utah has challenged more and more people to try it.
Then there is the well known variation on skiing, snow boarding. This sport, which is increasingly becoming an international phenomena, particularly amongst the young, is taking off everywhere white stuff lays on the ground and there is a hill to climb and ride down.
| Dog sledding is catching on in the lower 48 states, as Colby Shaw and a rider demonstrate near Soldier Summit. |
Snowshoeing is another sport which has it’s roots from basic travel in cold country long ago. Today it has become a high tech sport, with the large wooden shoes of old serial movies gone from the scene and new smaller, lighter composite material shoes providing the support.
Another sport growing popularity is ice skating. The county has a public rink at the fairgrounds (near the motocross track) and many people take advantage of that facility.
Then of course there are the machines. Snowmobiles have plied the mountains since the 1960’s, but today and newer, quieter, less polluting generation of machines are taking people into the back country.
Probably the least well known (from a hands on point of view) and understood sport in the world of winter endeavors is dog sledding and skijoring. Dog sledding is a sport that continues to grow in Utah with dozens of people running teams around the state. In fact, one of the major races in the lower 48 states has one leg run in the northeast part of Utah. Skijoring is a combination of cross country skiing and dog sledding. In fact if someone owns a pair of skis and a good sized dog that likes to run, but can be kept under control (an important factor when headed toward trees) they can start the sport with very little expense.
Obviously innovation will continue to change the winter sports scene with new ideas, equipment and entirely new sports appearing all the time.