Snow provides endless opportunities for fun. For some, classic winter sports like skiing or snowboarding are great ways to experience an adrenaline rush in nature. For others, it's simply not enough!
Shovel Racing: A sport thought to have originated in the 1970s in New Mexico’s ski resorts, shovel racing is exactly what you might imagine it to be. It involves racing down a snowy hill on a snow shovel. Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico has been hosting the World Championship Shovel Races for over 40 years and the annual challenge is fairly simple. Competitors sit on the scoop of a standard aluminum snow shovel; handles pointed downhill, and then lift their hands and feet to allow gravity to take them for a ride. Each rider gets two shots to clock the fastest time down the front of the Angel Fire ski mountain. Top speeds regularly exceed 60 miles per hour. It is deemed a very dangerous sport, and it featured once in the Winter-X Games in 1997, but it never appeared again after a competitor was injured at high speed. If you'd like to see some thrills and spills, take a look at this 50 second video...
Yukigassen: The Japanese competition known as Yukigassen is a professional snowball fight. There are seven players on each team, and players are eliminated when hit by a snowball. With similar rules to Capture the Flag, it is played on a court and players wear helmets and face shields. There are up to 90 snowballs made in advance of the start time. It started in the mid-1980s, but now there are tournaments held around the world, including Finland, Norway, and Alaska.
Snow Polo: The first-ever snow polo match was played on a frozen Lake St. Moritz in Switzerland in 1985. The annual Snow Polo World Cup, a glamorous affair, is held in Switzerland every year in St. Moritz. The sport is a modified version of regular polo, played on horseback, and the horses wear special cleated shoes for better traction on the surface. The usual small white polo ball is replaced by a slightly larger bright orange ball. It is also played in Aspen, Colorado, and there is an official FIP (Federation of International Polo) annual tournament held in China.