The days have grown brisk, and the leaves are all but gone. White snow dots not just the peaks in the distance, but the ground outside your front door. It’s finally winter, which means the holidays are right around the corner.

With that in mind, we at the Adrenalist would like to offer a special thanks to winter. Winter really can be a time of “wow,” and no one understands that more than an Adrenalist. While the summer is special, the changing of the seasons brings new activities and new pursuits.  Here are some things we’re thankful winter helps us enjoy.

Sledding

It might be a family tradition, but going sledding when the temperature drops is a given. Whether you’re flying down the slope solo or sharing a huge toboggan that can fit all of your adrenaline-seeking friends, you’ll want to be thankful that sledding is back. Trudge to the local hill and build up enough speed to fly down the hill with a blood-curdling war cry. It is a total blast and one of the best winter memories from childhood and beyond.

Sledding, tubing and tobogganing down the side of a mountain aren’t new, but it’s an Adrenalist activity that’s most directly acquainted with winter. It’s also not particularly taxing, so everyone can join in and experience the thrill of gliding down the mountain, hill, or gentle mound.

Even the mechanized sleds are fun in the winter. So what are you waiting for? Climb up that hill and throw yourself at the slope’s mercy.

Ice Skating

It’s fine if you can’t skate like the above freestylers. Maybe you haven’t mastered the hockey stop yet, and your ankles buckle any time you have to wear those rented skates because you don’t have your own pair, but there’s something very special about sliding around looking like a fool on some ice. It’s not really how well you’ve mastered the slide and glide of ice skating, but that you’ve taken the opportunity to enjoy one of winter’s most enervating activities.

Falling on the cold, hard ice is a learning experience, and no matter how awful you are, there’s room for improvement every year.

The important thing is that you lace on some skates and try to do something you’re not accustomed to. That’s part of the Adrenalist ethos: trying the unknown or the difficult. Ice skating might not be second nature like it is to America’s neighbors up north, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a shot. It’s winter, afterall. Just make sure the water is completely frozen before you skate out on the ice.

Snowboarding

These next two activities are equal parts extremist sports and natural extensions of winter for many Adrenalists north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Most people can’t do spins out of a half-pipe on a snowboard. In fact, the majority of people would fall right on their face if they were strapped into a snowboard and thrust on a chair lift. So, in order to make snowboarding more paletteable for the rest of your family, sign up for a family pack of lessons and rent some gear. You can laught at yourselves as you’re shimmying your way down the bunny slope, and maybe you’ll fall in love with the sport; then you could move on to more daring challenges, like contemplating the world heli challenge.

Skiing

Skiiing is a more time-honored tradition than snowboarding. It’s a traditional avocation once the days grow shorter, so persuading your family to hole up in a ski lodge for a weekend shouldn’t be too much outside the norm. Unless you’re doing some extreme skiing at a different level than the rest of us, you might want to spice up your annual ski trip.

There are plenty of other activities to make winter a time for enjoyment rather than one for hibernation until the sun and high temperatures comes back. You can go ice sailing, or possibly, if you’re really advanced, ski gliding. You can even go skiiing in your suburb.

Winter might be a time when a whole new world of adrenalist activities open up as the weather thaws precipitation and you get a blanket of snow to play in. The most important thing about winter that we haven’t even discussed, however, is that it’s a time when you get together with your family. Enjoy the winter with your family and friends.

Cover Photo Credit: Ben Heys / Shutterstock