No Skills Necessary: Take 2 “Lazy Leisure”
More Unique Adventures To Try in 2010
At the end of January I introduced you to some unique and even crazy pursuits to pursue and peruse this winter if :
A. You’re tired of skiing or snowboarding or the whole scene; or
B. You just don’t have the skills to be flailing down those impossible grades anyway. Now, I’ve got an activity for those with a problem.
C. You just aren’t into moving that much when on your ski holiday. Well, the kids aren’t the only ones who get to play from this day forward. Here are some other No Skills Necessary (not too difficult) Adventures (in their own way!) to try out this year.
Snowmobiling
If you like mounting a jet ski in the summer and riding over waves and pulling off 360s, then you’ll love snowmobiling; especially if you don’t want to have to do any work whatsoever. Snowmobiling gives you the chance to go out and about, cross-country style without the calorie-burning workout.
Everyone knows the Spanish love to get into a vehicle and go crazy, so odds are one of the best places to try snowmobiling this winter is in Spain or France. In the Sierras and near Malaga is where most Spaniards become suicidal adrenaline junkies. The area has some great inflatable tobogganing runs too—both unique minus the physicalness.
Dog Sledding
Though I’ve mentioned it before with horses, sledding with dogs can be one of the most No Skills Necessary approaches to having an exercise-free ski vacation. All you have to do is hold on and every-so-often yell, “Mush.”–Yep, that easy! If you want a romantic ride with a lover at sundown or organize an inter-familial race through the back country, both become possible behind a few mutts. They even make sit-down sleds that come with your own guide—talk about the ultimate of lazy leisure.
Ice Fishing
This does not mean you are looking for frozen fish. Ice fishing is probably the penultimate lazy leisure pastime, good for drinking hot cocoa, beer or other Russian-made mixed drinks containing 90% proof Vodka. The really cool thing about ice-fishing is you get your own little cabin, or you can share it with a couple friends. There’s not much to do but veg about when waiting on half-frozen fish to get hungry, so bring a book, a story-telling friend or a bunch of your favourite magazines and laze the day away.
Resorts such as Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy and Kiruna in Sweden, along with anywhere that has lakes and ponds, but bring your own auger if you plan on going alone.
Igloo Building
If you’ve always wanted to see yourself huddled in your own snowcapped igloo, look no further this ski season. Igloo building may take a little more effort than ice fishing or snowmobiling, but if you take your time, you won’t work up too much of a sweat. Often, people carve castles out of the ice so it’s not too much to ask to construct your own dog-house size home in the snow is it?
The areas on the border of France and Spain in the Pyrenees is likely igloo central for some odd reason. Plus, your kids will really think it’s cool that you built them a snow fortress, even if it is just a pile of dug out snow. Snowball fights don’t exactly take too much energy as well. Make two igloos and use them as forts of protection during the snowball fight. I think it was Puy Saint Vincent in France that even has a igloo building competition each year, but I’ll have to fact check that for you. Have a happy No Skills, lazy leisure ski holiday this year!
Winter isn’t just a good time to plan next spring and summer’s adventures, it’s also a great time to get outdoors and try a whole other set of activities. I think Dog sledding is an amazing way to explore the great outdoors. It is pretty easy to pick up but a good level of fitness and balance are required to get the most from this exhilarating experience. You can be sure of one of the most memorable adventures of your life. Nice and interesting tips, this are great ideas on spicing up your winter holidays!
I don’t do much skiing but my family and kids love it. We’re from Canada so I do a bit of ice skating and hockey but when it comes to our annual ski getaway, I’m usually looking for something after my hour on the bunny hills. You have some good ideas here, though I don’t mind to have a bit of a work out. Another thing catching on is skiing with a parachute, which isn’t as hard as say kite surfing on water. If you’ve got a flat field to practice in and the right equipment, this sport is not too hard and is fun but does use a lot of energy. Thought I’d mention it.
I love the winter and I do go cross-country skiing but I love to find ways to see the area nature without having to work too hard some days. Snowshoeing is another good way to see the area ski resorts but it does require effort but little skill. I think it is also fun to go horse sleigh riding but this is usually on frozen-over roads or wide, marked trails. One of the funnest and safe and lazy ways to take to some of the slopes too is tubing, like on water but downhill on the slopes. You allude to this and it’s quite fun and gives you something to talk about later in the day.
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