5 Extreme Ways to Enjoy the Snow

Let It Snow

While we're waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate, we have a few new ways you can fantasize about enjoying the snow. Some are for only the brave of heart, while others get you up close and personal with winter wildlife.

No matter what your adrenaline quotient for winter activity, there's something for everyone. Turn off the heat, put your mittens on, and dream of the snow that's falling somewhere.

FIRST: Heli-fun

Heli-skiing

Heli-skiing is mainly a Rockies and Western U.S. activity. But what an adventure it is! A helicopter drops you in rarely traveled back country, so you can ski (or snowboard) your way out.

This is deep powder that's rarely traveled and it's mostly for experienced skiiers. It's not for the budget-conscious either; a day of heli-skiing can cost $1,000 or more.

See: Where the Deep Powder Is

There are outfitters throughout the Colorado Rockies as well as Idaho, Washington, Nevada, and Montana. If your skill set doesn't lend itself to heli skiing just yet, you can live vicariously through online videos and keep practicing.

NEXT: Prowl for nature

Wolf-watching

There are so many cool things to do in Yellowstone National Park that we had to include them on our list twice! You don't have to be an athlete to find an extreme way of enjoying the snow. Nothing is more extreme than communing with one of North America's most feared, and awe-inspiring, animals: the wolf.

Winter is a fantastic time to watch wolves.  "Wolves won’t range as far due to snow, they stay closer to their prey," says Susi Sinay of Yellowstone Safari Company.

"Also, February is courting and mating time for wolves, so we see some cool behavior," says Sinay. "We see courting, mating, interpack behavior when traveling, greeting (howling), playing (yearlings), hunting."

Many outfitters provide scopes, binoculars, and a wildlife biologist to explain the action you'll see. Yellowstone regulations allow groups to get as close as 100 yards to the wolves.

You can even combine your wolf-watching with snowshoeing for a little exercise. Winter gear is essential since it gets in the single digits, with the wind chill factor, during January and February in Yellowstone.

NEXT: Bare bones

Skeleton

30 miles per hour doesn't sound that fast. But when you consider you're laying on your stomach, riding on sharp blades, with your face mere inches above an ice-covered track... all of a sudden 30 miles per hour sounds terrifying! That's what it's like to ride a skeleton.

If you want a little more between you and the ice, hope in a bobsled with professional athletes. Lake Placid offers bobsled rides down a half mile course with a professional brakeman and driver. They say your bobsled will go faster than you're allowed to drive in Lake Placid.

"We provide a pilot and a brakeman in the sled because, although we start the Public Bobsled Experience at the half mile mark where the vertical is not as significant, the speed (approximately 50 m.p.h.) and force of the sled as it goes through the turns is nothing like what the average person is used to," says Wendy Townsley with the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority.

"With skilled pilots and brakemen, the riders are able to enjoy the ride the way it was intended."

While these sports involved more ice than snow, we still consider them an incredible winter rush!

NEXT: Ruff race

Iditarod

Every year, I follow Alaska's Iditarod Sled Dog Race with a mix of excitement and awe. Most of us aren't cut out for a grueling 1,100 sled ride across desolate frozen tundra with a pack of dogs. But if you can handle an afternoon riding with a professional musher, Oregon's Mt. Bachelor is the place to be.

"After I take people on rides, most say it was one of the most incredible experiences of their lives," says Jerry Scidoris, who operates a sled dog tour out of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. "When I was a racer people would constantly ask if they could hire me to take them for sled dog rides."

Jerry figured there would be a niche for his services so when the former Iditarod racer retired, he started his dog mushing tour. Jerry's daughter, who competed in 5 Iditarod racers despite being legally blind, is also part of the operation.

The cool thing about this tour is that it's as close as most of us will ever get to the Iditarod. Many of the dogs are current or former Iditarod racers and their human counterparts are as well! So how fast do they move?

"Iditarod pace is about 10 m.p.h.," says Scidoris. "If we let them go as fast as they can, they'd easily hit 30 m.p.h. But we keep them much slower than that so it's a safe, family friendly adventure for all."

Scidoris says the lack of snow has been a challenge this year but he's figured out a work around.

"I bought 7 or 8 snow shovels for my guides this year. I told them to hit the trails and start shoveling so we have enough snow to make it work."

NEXT: Going mobile

Snowmobiling

Snowmobiling in Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks are a favorite winter sport for many. However, this year's unusually warm temperatures and lack of snow have put a damper on it. Yellowstone opened up the snowmobiling trails less than two weeks after they got a big dump of snow. Usually they open for snowmobiling in mid-December.

Why snowmobile in Yellowstone? The scenery! You can see bison, elk, and even Old Faithful. You have to be part of a guided tour to participate in this. Most snowmobile companies operate out of West Yellowstone and access the West Gate of the park, which is only seasonally open.

Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park is not without controversy. In the 1980's and 1990's when snowmobiling in the park became popular, people complained of over-congestion, fumes, and speeding. The park's shift to guided snowmobile tours has helped ease that. Right now, the park allows only 318 guided snowmobiles and 78 snow coaches a day.