Tag: Winter Sports View All Tags

New York Breaks Out the Zambonis

October 23, 2008 at 1:16 PM | 0 Comments

Hey, speaking of Zambonis, New York's Wollman Rink opened today. Most recently the site of David Blaine's hang-upside-down "trick," it's probably the city's second-most famous skating venue.

The ice at Rockefeller Center is already open, though we tend to avoid it thanks to the public humiliation potential of wiping out in front of busloads of European tourists. Bryant Park is scheduled to open its rink tomorrow; admission is free but skate rental runs $12 a pair.

We'd rather lace up our blades at Lasker Rink on the north end of Central Park, where the scene is a bit more calm. Also worth checking out next month is the new rink the American Museum of Natural History is setting up behind its HQ on Central Park West.

Related Stories:
· Today in NY: Central Park Skating [NewYorkology]
· Museum of Natural History Opening Rink [NY1]
· Where to Skate in Manhattan [Jaunted]

[Photo: pbb]

Good News for Lovers of Winter

March 23, 2007 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments


If you're a thick sweater and gloves fan and wish that the northern hemisphere winter wasn't coming to an end, you'll be happy to hear that the hype for New Zealand's Lindauer Queenstown Winter Festival is just beginning. The week-long party takes place from June 22 to July 1 with a combination of ski and snowboard shows, jazz nights and pop and rock fests, all held in and around Queenstown in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island.

With four large skifields located near Queenstown, it's the obvious part of New Zealand to celebrate the winter in. Our only gripe is with the heavy sponsor marketing, with sponsorship deals making events sound like one big advertisement: it might be a day full of the best snowboard tricks ever, but do they have to call it the "SkiDealsNZ.com Big Air" competition? Yet at the same time, locals are whinging that half of Queenstown's businesses get no financial benefit from the Winter Festival at all.

[Photo: angryfifer]

Related Stories:
· Festival Chief: Glass is Half Full [Scene NZ]
· Queenstown Girls Like To Watch [HotelChatter]

Where to Ice Skate in Manhattan

December 19, 2006 at 1:07 PM | 0 Comments


It's the most wonderful time of the year, they say. Of course, "they" probably aren't standing in a security line that could stretch to the moon and back. To catch a flight to go watch Aunt Mable put another glaze on the Christmas ham. For the 10th year in a row. (But, honestly, we're not bitter.)

How can you possibly have fun combining travel and the holidays this year? Get to New York City, a hell of a Christmas town. And to enjoy the season in NYC, you have to go ice skating. Wollman Rink and Rockefeller Center are Manhattan's classic skating spots, but they aren't the only places you can hit the ice. Here's a round-up of the best options in the city:

Riverbank State Park: Further uptown than Lasker, at 145th Street, it doesn't get more city than Riverbank: the park is on top of a sewage treatment plant. Admission is $4.50; skate rental, $3.50.

Four more picks after the jump.

more ›

What's an Avalanche Like?

March 6, 2006 at 8:44 AM | 0 Comments

Speaking of mountains, check out this unsigned first-person account of surviving an avalanche in the French Alps:

I had heard many times that the best way to survive an avalanche was to "swim" to stay on top of the snow. What I now know is that this is an automatic survival instinct. I swam for my life.


Mountain guidebooks also say that pissing yourself helps your chances of survival since it helps rescue dogs to find your location. That is an automatic reaction, too.


Related Stories:
·    `OK, so this is it. I'm dying' [London Times]
·   Henry's Avalanche Talk [Official Site]
·   Avalanche.org [Official Site]