Whether you ski, snowboard, or prefer to gaze on the beauty of snow through well-insulated plate glass, there are many ways to celebrate the beauty of winter.
For Delta Sky magazine I did just that, highlighting a host of ways to get outside and experience the deliciously ephemeral pleasures of winter snow and ice.
The story arose out of a previous post for this blog, in which I described my adventures hiking up a frozen river in Jasper National Park’s indescribably gorgeous Maligne Canyon. The Maligne Canyon Ice Walk, as it’s known, is best done shod in ice cleats with an experienced guide, and I’d highly recommend it as bucket list-worthy for anyone with a modicum of adventurous spirit and a good pair of gloves.
Sure enough, my smart Delta Sky editor took one look at my pix and chose that as the story’s lead item. In addition, I got a chance to tell readers about a few of my other favorite winter destinations – as well as recommend the best places to warm up with gourmet hot chocolate afterwards.
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Experiencing my first ice cave |
A few highlights:
• Ice skating at Chicago’s McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park
• The über-creative Ice on Whyte Ice Carving Festival in Edmonton, Alberta Canada
• Dogsledding in Denali National Park in Alaska
• Skijoring with horses in Quebec
• The new five-lane tubing extravaganza at Heavenly Valley in Lake Tahoe
• A wildlife photography workshop at Wolf Haven in Washington
• Bald Eagle viewing with the help of volunteers from New York’s the Eagle Institute
• Tips on where to go to try snowbiking
• Tips on where to go to try snowkiting
And if you don’t know what skijoring, snowbiking and snowkiting are, no worries; you can read the story or stay tuned. I plan to cover the crazy fun of winter thrill sports in a future post.