Embrace winter outdoors!
In Winnipeg, you just have to get out and embrace winter outdoors, partly because the white season lasts for half of the year, but also because there are so many opportunities for enjoyment and adventure in Winterpeg!
A walk in the snow
Winnipeg looks magical, blanketed in white with a ceiling of the most intense blue or under the stars.
The most scenic places for a winter walk in the city are…
Skating on a frozen pond -- magical!
There is free public skating at The Forks and at Winnipeg parks and community centres.
Where, and other details about
skating in Winnipeg, on sunny days or under the stars...
Snowboarding
The Forks skateboard park, considered the best in Canada, transforms into Winnipeg’s largest snowboard park – but not the only one!
Where to snowboard in and near Winnipeg
Downhill skiing near Winnipeg
Being vertically-challenged, Winnipeg isn’t known for its downhill opportunities, but there are places that can challenge beginner and even intermediate skiers in Manitoba.
Would you be surprised to hear that a couple of them are just minutes from downtown Winnipeg?
Where to ski close to Winnipeg
More places to ski in Manitoba
Cross-country skiing in and near Winnipeg
Cross-country classic and skate-skiing is a hugely popular winter outdoors sport in Winnipeg and in Manitoba. There are groomed trails at major city parks, most Winnipeg golf courses, a city-run Nordic centre, and
go here to find more places to cross-country ski.
Snowmobiling
Speed and snow just naturally go together. So, no surprise, snowmobiling is very popular in Manitoba almost everywhere beyond city limits.
If you go, just a reminder – you must purchase a trail pass (get them where snowmobiles and equipment are sold, including the retailers listed here).
If you’d like to try out this sport, SnowMuch Fun Snowmobile Rentals rents machines, helmuts and gear and also offers guided tours lasting from 2 hours to a week. They’re at 204-269-4357.
You can also rent a snowmobile (hourly, daily or by the week) from Sledrent.com Snowmobile Rentals (204-791-2056).
Another option is a stay at Nopiming Lodge at Bird Lake in The Whiteshell, the lakes district east of Winnipeg. Nopiming Lodge rents snowmobiles and there are trails to Pine Falls, Lac du Bonnet and into Ontario. They also offer cross-country skiing. The number is (204) 884-2281.
Ice fishing
Don your snowsuit and bait your hook for walleye, perch, sauger or silver bass caught through a foot (30 cm) of ice (that’s the minimum thickness for the ice to be safe to drive or snowmobile on).
More about ice-fishing near Winnipeg
Snowshoeing
You can rent a pair of snowshoes for just $2 at FortWhyte Alive, and be green while you're enjoying this fast-growing winter outdoors sport.
Unlike traditional wood snowshoes, modern ones are very light because they're made from recylced pop bottles with bindings crafted from recycled car tires.
Snowkiting
Snowshoeing is an ancient sport (there is evidence it's been around for at least 6,000 years), but here's an extreme winter sport so new not many people have even heard of it.
Snowkiting is a lot like windsurfing, except you do it on a snowboard, skis or skates.
Festival du Voyageur
For 10 days every February roll out your joie de vivre at Fort Gibraltar in Saint Boniface.
Concerts, dancing and jigging, French-Canadian fare and various competitions and family events at the largest winter outdoors festival in western Canada.
Unique here: spectacular snow- and ice-sculptures at the Festival and around town, all created by artists from around the world.
In 2010, Festival du Voyageur is February 12 to 21.
Winter outdoors – Manitoba
The Whiteshell
With a string of lakes and forest where Manitobans have enjoyed cottaging for a century or more, The Whiteshell is also popular in winter for ice-fishing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
Falcon Lake
Falcon Lake is a year-round community that swells during the summer. In winter, resort guests can use the tubing hill, cross-county skiing trails or go ice-fishing, on sleigh rides, winter orienteering, snowshoeing and skating on the lake, plus see the biathlon range where Olympic athlete Megan Imrie (who grew up skiing here) trains. Falcon Lake is about a two-hour drive east of Winnipeg.
More info about Falcon Lake is here
Gimli
The Icelandic town of
Gimli
is uncrowded in winter. It has snowmobile trails, ice-fishing on Lake Manitoba and near-by (in a provincial park) there are groomed trails for skiing.
Go from Winter Outdoors to find more Winnipeg Attractions
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