| How To Get Into Winter Sports |
| Written by urbanlife.se |
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“Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”
John Wooden Situated close to the North Pole, being in Sweden can be quite a freezing experience in the winters. Land of the Vikings, Sweden has inhospitable winters but that doesn’t mean that you have to shiver through the season. Do like the Swedes do when in Sweden! Get a pair of skates, gulp a couple of Absolute shots and off you go skating around the archipelago. Sweden has always been perceived as a country with generous quantities of snow and the winters here are quite long. The temperature can drop to -10 degree Celsius or even less; the days are short, and the nights longer than the usual. Trees and streets are lit in a hue of colors and the ice rinks are open to the public. Hence, Sweden is sometimes known as the wonderland for winter sports. The most popular winter sport is…any guesses? Skiing! But obviously because there is snow everywhere from the mountain tops all the way down to the valley. In winters, everyone seems to be talking about skiing, watching the action or skiing down one of the 300 ski slopes in the country. Sometimes it seems as if the Swedes are born with ski chalet and snow skis! So where can one start?If you are interested in skiing then you will need to learn the twists and the turns, before you can even think of trying out the famous and sometimes bone breaking V-style technique introduced by Swedish ski-jumper, Jan Boklöv. So what you really need is training in one of the many ski schools spread across Sweden. You can find ski schools in Sälen, Åre and Vemdalen and many more. The largest and the most popular skiing region in Sweden is Sälen, which is home to top ski schools for beginners, amateurs, and even specialized training for children. Sälen is famous for the 145km of ski area with 160 pistes for both beginners and intermediates. Some of the other popular ski resorts for beginners and intermediates include Järvsö, Säfsen (also has slopes for experts), Åre, and Sunne ski resort. Once you have learnt how to stand on skis for more than 30 seconds (without falling), you will be able to try different types and levels of skiing like Alpine freestyle, Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, and Randonnée Skiing.  If you want to try something totally different then you can check out Skijoring where you will be skiing while being pulled by a snowmobile or animals. Here is something that you need to remember: skiing is a fun sport but people break their bones too. So don’t try to attempt it without proper training and equipments like skis, boots, ski poles, bindings, goggles, and other accessories.But skiing is not the only winter sport in Sweden. You can try out cross-country skiing, tobogganing, igloo-building, and sledging. Ice Hockey is another really popular winter sport and the Swedish national team has won the World Championships eight times (1953, 1957, 1962, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2006) Bandy, quite similar to Ice Hockey, is considered to be the fastest team sport in the world. So get ready – put your gloves on and take on the Swedish Winters with a smile! |