Winter sports
Aug 16th 2013 | 4:42 am
#31
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 30,771
From: Upstate South Carolina
Re: Winter sports
Don't get me started ............. 
I have never had the desire to ski / board- be it downhill / uphill / off a big curly jump etc.
However as Caretaker and DBD have said there are other winter sports. Ice fishing is wicked awesome. You don't 'have' to have a shack but it helps- even a tent set up on the ice will keep the sun out of your hole, you will need to buy and ice auger, and a 2ft long fishing rod though. Oh an maybe something with 4wd just in case you get stuck on the snow on the lake.
Curling is great fun and a good way to make friends, a really popular sport (well here in AB it is) and very - ahem - sociable too if you know what I mean
I have never had the desire to ski / board- be it downhill / uphill / off a big curly jump etc.
However as Caretaker and DBD have said there are other winter sports. Ice fishing is wicked awesome. You don't 'have' to have a shack but it helps- even a tent set up on the ice will keep the sun out of your hole, you will need to buy and ice auger, and a 2ft long fishing rod though. Oh an maybe something with 4wd just in case you get stuck on the snow on the lake.
Curling is great fun and a good way to make friends, a really popular sport (well here in AB it is) and very - ahem - sociable too if you know what I mean
I honestly believe ice fishing has bugger all to do with catching fish and far more to do with having a few warming bevvies in the peace and quiet far from the prying gaze of your significant other.
Aug 16th 2013 | 4:51 am
#32
Assimilated Pauper
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 40,070
From: Ontario
Re: Winter sports
I don't get how those bevvies are warming. You chug half frozen beer while huffing and puffing and stamping your feet then have to wander outside and take off your mitts in order to rummage in ten layers of fleecy fabrics to find your dong which is now shrunken to a point that it barely sticks through said layers. Your shivering hand causes you to write your name, whether you mean to or not. The whole experience is like going to watch the Green Bay Packers.
Aug 16th 2013 | 7:49 am
#33
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 30,771
From: Upstate South Carolina
. Lets try and keep at least a little perspective.
Aug 16th 2013 | 8:03 am
#34
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 178
From: Italy
Re: Winter sports
eyes can see. You could ruin it for the rest of us.
Thank you.
Aug 16th 2013 | 8:05 am
#35
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 178
From: Italy
Re: Winter sports
I don't get how those bevvies are warming. You chug half frozen beer while huffing and puffing and stamping your feet then have to wander outside and take off your mitts in order to rummage in ten layers of fleecy fabrics to find your dong which is now shrunken to a point that it barely sticks through said layers. Your shivering hand causes you to write your name, whether you mean to or not. The whole experience is like going to watch the Green Bay Packers.
ummm, perhaps you are doing it wrong.
Space heaters help.
Aug 16th 2013 | 9:08 am
#36
Stand-up Philosopher
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 16,344
From: Regina Saskatchewan
Re: Winter sports
There's a few things that help -
Aug 16th 2013 | 4:50 pm
#37
Sawdust making harpy
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 11,291
From: Alberta
Re: Winter sports
don't for one minute think that it's all about being cold and miserable.
OK in shacks like ours and Caretakers if you don't take a heater it can be, but some of the outfits the guys pull onto the lake (and leave them there for a season - are like mini homes. Seriously. It's like a big shed on skids (or even an old trailer) with a big hole in the floor (for obvious reasons) and you have all amenities of home - right in the middle of a frozen lake
I agree its not strictly fishing as such - but it is really cool to see them swim right up to your hook - or past the hole.
Actually last ime we were out, a couple guys in a dodge were literally sitting all day in their truck - watching their holes (no shack over them) and the rods they had in them had the indicators on (like a flag that pops up when you get a bite). So all they would do is jump out of the truck - pull up the fish - drop the line back in and go and sit down again!
And they caught more than us
OK in shacks like ours and Caretakers if you don't take a heater it can be, but some of the outfits the guys pull onto the lake (and leave them there for a season - are like mini homes. Seriously. It's like a big shed on skids (or even an old trailer) with a big hole in the floor (for obvious reasons) and you have all amenities of home - right in the middle of a frozen lake
I agree its not strictly fishing as such - but it is really cool to see them swim right up to your hook - or past the hole.
Actually last ime we were out, a couple guys in a dodge were literally sitting all day in their truck - watching their holes (no shack over them) and the rods they had in them had the indicators on (like a flag that pops up when you get a bite). So all they would do is jump out of the truck - pull up the fish - drop the line back in and go and sit down again!
And they caught more than us
Last edited by mandymoochops; Aug 16th 2013 at 4:54 pm.
Sep 30th 2013 | 5:29 am
#38
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 625
From: Okanagan region
Re: Winter sports
Are winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding more affordable than in uk? One of the big draws for me moving to canada is the outdoor lifestyle which we don't have to same extent in uk. I suppose it depends partly on what province you live as Ontario only has ski hills, although they're not to far from some mountains in New York State. I've noticed Canadians seem to embrace winter whereas some Brits seem to hibernate once the autumn begins.
We usually partake in that type of sport after a day on the slopes!
Sep 30th 2013 | 6:57 am
#41
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 625
From: Okanagan region
Re: Winter sports
Check out how busy the slopes are during winter time 
Oct 1st 2013 | 4:24 pm
#43
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 625
From: Okanagan region
Re: Winter sports
The first one is Sunpeaks - Kamloops and the second one is Apex - Penticton. Big White is an amazing Ski Resort as well - you will love it! The ice fishing photos above are taken at our friends cabin not too far from big white - near Kelowna Nordic Ski Trails. When we stay there we sometimes go to Big White for the day. Silver Star at Vernon and Mount Baldy at Oliver are also great for skiing. How are you settling in?
Last edited by jossie; Oct 1st 2013 at 4:28 pm.
Oct 2nd 2013 | 3:36 am
#45
Éireann go Brách
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,932
From: White Man in Hammersmith Palais
Re: Winter sports
It was a rather unusual 26c in Dublin last Monday, sitting in the garden with an ice cold Heineken. Been back 5 days and it hasnt stopped peeing down. Vancouver autumn/winter, give me strength!
