The Winter Adventure Guide
5 Fun Things to Do on Ice
Photograph by Curtis Savard
Sweep | Wayland, MA With the Vancouver Winter Olympics arriving this month, prepare for a new round of breathless (if uninformed) TV coverage of curling, in which a player slides a 44-pound granite “rock” toward a target while teammates guide it by furiously sweeping the ice. This ancient sport is more complex than you might think, as a visit to Wayland curling club Broomstones will show. Check out the college tournament on February 20, when Harvard, BU, and Northeastern are expected to compete. Try the sport yourself on March 7, with lessons at the Broomstones open house. Reserve a place, though—curling fever will be at its peak. After the 2006 Turin Olympics, a similar event drew 1,000 people in one day. 138 Rice Rd., Wayland, 508-358-2412, broomstones.com.
Rip | Walpole, MA Go ahead and root for Apolo Anton Ohno as he guns for more Olympic short-track speed-skating medals, but then get out and give his sport a whirl. At the Olympic-sized Iorio Arena in Walpole, the Bay State Speedskating Club’s introductory course teaches the beauty of the breakaway, and more. Just bring skates, a bike helmet, gloves, kneepads, and a long-sleeve shirt, and go for your own gold. 2130 Providence Hwy., Walpole, 508-660-2005, iorioarena.com.
Kite | Lake Champlain, VT Kitesurfing isn’t just for summertime Cape Cod—with the help of a good winter wind, you can snowkite powdery meadows and frozen lakes. To experience this sport at its best, check out its annual powwow, Kitestorm, February 20–21 on Lake Champlain. Come with skis or a snowboard, boots, and a helmet, and instructors will hitch you to a kite and get you sailing. If you can’t make it that weekend, Stormboarding, one of the country’s longest-running certified snowkiting schools, can hook you up with lessons and gear. Beginner packages start at $455; 802-578-6120, stormboarding.com.
Coast | Lake Morey, VT Merge cross-country skiing with ice skating and you’ve got the centuries-old Scandinavian sport of Nordic skating. Using special blades, skaters can travel great distances on rivers and lakes much faster than they would in cross-country skiing. Nordic Skater runs three-hour workshops, mostly on the four-mile trail at Lake Morey, the longest groomed ice-skating corridor in the U.S. Tour, instruction, and gear: $30. The sight of bald eagles and peregrine falcons: gratis. Location by arrangement and weather conditions; 802-649-3939, nordicskating.org.
Fish | Lake Champlain, VT February and March are the big months for hooking landlocked salmon, northern pike, and lake trout, and now you can dangle a line without losing a limb to numbness or having your eyelashes frost over. In today’s heated huts anglers can watch the Pats game while monitoring their poles. Rent a shanty from Bronzeback guide Gil Gagner for $90, or for $200 he’ll take you out himself, all gear included. 2934 U.S. Rte. 7, Highgate Springs, VT, 802-868-4459, bronzebackguideservice.com.