Sports or recreational activities which are played on snow or ice
Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive ♠ recreational activities which are played on snow or ice.
[1] Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding.
Traditionally, such games ♠ were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility.
Playing areas and fields ♠ consist of either snow or ice.
Artificial ice can be used to provide ice rinks for ice skating, ice hockey, para ♠ ice hockey, ringette, broomball, bandy, rink bandy, rinkball, and spongee in a milder climate.
The sport of speed skating uses a ♠ frozen circular track of ice, but in some facilities the track is combined in an enclosed area used for sports ♠ requiring an ice rink or the rink itself is used.
Alternatively, ice cross downhill uses a track with various levels of ♠ elevation and a combination of bends.
Long distance skating ( a.k.a.
"marathon skating") such as tour skating is only performed outdoors and ♠ uses the available natural ice from frozen lakes, ponds, and marshes.
Tour skating at times includes speed skaters, though tour skates ♠ are more common.
Common individual sports include cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, speed skating, figure skating, luge, skeleton, bobsleigh, ♠ ski orienteering and snowmobiling.
Common team sports include ice hockey, ringette, broomball (on either an indoor ice rink, or an outdoor ♠ ice rink or field of snow), curling, rinkball, and bandy.
Based on the number of participants, ice hockey is the world's ♠ most popular winter team sport, followed by bandy.[2]
Winter sports at times have their own multi-sport events, such as the Winter ♠ Olympic Games and the Winter Universiade.
History [ edit ]
In the early days of the Olympics there was not much differentiation ♠ between the summer and winter games.
These confusions would span from around the late 1890s until the early to mid 1900s.
During ♠ this time, some sports considered to be winter sports and played or performed during the Olympic Winter Games today, would ♠ be held during the Olympic Summer Games.
It was originally wanted to keep all of the Olympic sports together under one ♠ event and program, but due to environmental demands of some sports, it had to be separated.[3]
Snow and ice during the ♠ winter time has enabled sliding as a means of transportation, using sledges, skis and skates.
This also led to different pastimes ♠ and sports being developed in the winter season as compared to other times of the year.
Naturally, winter sports are more ♠ popular in countries with longer winter seasons.
In the European Alps, St.
Moritz became a popular winter resort in 1864.[4][5]
While most winter ♠ sports are played outside, ice hockey, speed skating and to some extent bandy have moved indoors starting in the mid-20th ♠ century.
Indoor ice rinks with artificial ice allow ice skating and hockey to be played in hot climates.
Outdoor winter sports will ♠ likely be severely impacted because of climate change in the next century.[6]
List of winter sports [ edit ]
Note: the Olympic ♠ rings next to a sport indicates that this particular sport is included in the Winter Olympic Games, as of the ♠ 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The Paralympic logo indicates the same for a sport not in the Olympics but in the ♠ Winter Paralympic Games.
Ice skating [ edit ]Skiing [ edit ]
Ski jumping at Salpausselkä in Lahti, Finland in 2010Sledding [ edit ♠ ]
An East German bobsleigh in 1951, Oberhof track, Germany
Sports that use sleds going down ice tracks or pulled by something:
Snowboarding ♠ [ edit ]
Snowmobiling [ edit ]
A snowmobile tour at Yellowstone National Park.
Free styleSnocrossRecreationCross-countryHill climbing
Team sports [ edit ]
Based on the ♠ number of participating athletes, bandy is the second most popular winter sport in the world for men
Other sports [ edit ♠ ]
Recreational sports [ edit ]
Some sports are competed in (or simply enjoyed) on a more casual basis, often by children:
Notable ♠ winter sporting events [ edit ]
A postage stamp issued by East Germany in 1968 in commemoration of their first Winter ♠ Olympics as an independent country under a communist regimeWorld Cup [ edit ]
World championships [ edit ]See also [ edit ♠ ]References [ edit ]Citations [ edit ]
