Winter adventures for non-skiers

Courtesy Gstaad Saanenland Tourismus

Courtesy Utah Olympic Park

Courtesy Utah Olympic Park; Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo

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Courtesy Husky Tours

Destination Davos Klosters / swiss-image.ch / Stefan Schlumpf

Courtesy UTracks

As ski season approaches, spare a thought for those who have no interest in sticking two planks to their feet and tumbling downhill. Not everyone wants to hit the slopes. So for those who would rather skip the danger associated with skiing and snowboarding, there is a remarkable range of alternative winter activities. As winter sports destinations try to pull in the non-skiers, more options for adventure in the snow have opened up. Many of the suggestions below can be tackled in several countries, but David Whitley has picked out some of the very best spots.

Snow tubing

If learning to ski seems a little bit too much like hard work, then whizzing down the mountain while sitting might seem a more appealing prospect. At the Gerlosstein skiing area in Austria's Zillertal resort, it is possible to go snow tubing down a 200-­metre track, then take a lift back up to the top and come back down again.

As the name would suggest, this involves big rubber tubes – the sort that you might float down a river in elsewhere. Jump on top, settle in, and head down the slope, possibly spinning round on the way. At €7.40 a go (Dh 30), it’s a lot easier than forking out for ski lessons.

Fat biking

Normal mountain bikes aren't exactly designed for snowy conditions – it's way too easy to get bogged down. But that's where fat bikes come in. They might look slightly ridiculous, with their much larger than usual, balloon-esque tyres, but that helps spread the weight and glide the bike over the snow rather than sink into it. Of the major resorts, Gstaad in Switzerland has taken to fat bikes with the most gusto. Several rental shops, including Bike Sport Reuteler hire out bikes by the hour, and the local authorities have made sure fat bikers have access to winter hiking trails.

Bobsleighing

Watched the Winter Olympics and saw those four possibly insane guys hurtling down a steep, narrow, banked, ice-­covered track at high speed? Well, you could be one of them. A few resorts around the world – often former Winter Olympic hosts – offer the opportunity to clatter down the track with an experienced pilot at the front to stop the bob from crashing.

It's an intense, high-speed experience. The track in Park City, Utah, goes through 15 turns and hits speeds of up to 128kph. The white knuckle ride costs US$175 (Dh643).

Skijoring

OK, OK … this does involve strapping on the skis. But it doesn’t require any downhill skiing ability, as a horse does all the hard work. Skijoring is the rather cute experience of being pulled along in the snow by a redoubtable horse that trudges along gamely. Essentially, you hold on to a rectangular flap behind the horse, and it provides the engine.

It can be more of a thrill ride if desired, though – Ski Joëring Mont-Blanc at Chamonix in France, offers the opportunity to be pulled along by a galloping horse. The experience costs €45 (Dh182) per hour.

Snowmobiling

Should you wish for more horsepower than a horse can provide, then a snowmobile is probably the steed of choice. Many resort areas have snowmobile tours, but Canada goes absolutely gaga for them. One popular example can be found at the Whistler Blackcomb resort near Vancouver, where Canadian Wilderness Adventures lets guests get behind the controls for three hours.

The dusk tours reach an elevation of more than 2,000 metres, heading through old-growth forest to a rustic alpine cabin in time to watch the sun set behind the Coast Mountain Range. It costs 169 Canadian dollars (Dh463).

Dog sledding

Of course, the more traditional beast of burden for pulling people through snowy fields is the husky. And dog-sledding tours are available everywhere from Canada to Finland. One of the best spots for it is Kiruna in northern Sweden, where Husky Tours runs after-dark trips across the frozen landscape, timed to coincide with the (hopeful) appearance of the Northern Lights. Costing 1,250 Swedish krona (Dh510) per person, this involves a stop at a tepee for a warm drink by an open fire.

The alternative option is driving the dogs yourself. The company’s lunchtime tour begins with getting instructions on how to mush the huskies, steer and brake, before letting you loose behind the reins. You can also help feed the dogs at the kennels later. This adventure costs 1,800 Swedish krona (Dh735) per person.

Ice skating

Davos in Switzerland is known for being phenomenally expensive, but it also plays host to Europe's largest ice rink. And that means plenty of skaters can glide gracefully across the ice without bumping into each other. Every Monday and Thursday between 7.30pm and 10pm, skaters can take to the natural rink free of charge – but at other times it's worth checking that you won't have to share it with people playing ice hockey.

Snowshoeing

The image of polar adventurers trekking with tennis rackets strapped to their feet isn't as far-fetched as you might believe. Snowshoes are meant to spread the wearer's weight over a larger surface area in order to stop the feet from sinking deep into the snow. And for those who fancy hiking through picturesque winter mountain scenery, snowshoeing is the way to go. It's something that can be done in many countries, although there's a big scene in the French and Spanish Pyrenees. Several companies run week-long snowshoeing holidays there, which include instruction followed by several days exploring from a central base. UTracks is among them, and offers eight-day trips staying in French mountain guesthouses from £890 (Dh3,984).