5 hot new winter sports

Looking for a new form of adrenaline on ice? These variations on snowboarding, sledding and skiing are sure to get your heart racing.

1. Speed riding

This new sensation, a blend of paragliding and skiing, is the latest in extreme winter sports, and not for the fainthearted.

What it is
Wearing a small paragliding harness, lines and wing, ski daredevils are able to ‘fly’ across moguls, keeping close to the ground. Note: experienced skiers only need apply.

Where to find out more
Don’t even think about it without training. Most schools are in the Alps. There is footage on YouTube and more information at the Les Arcs school in France.

2. Snowkiting

Another hot sport that uses wind and snow for speed, snowkiting is an adaptation of kite or wind surfing.

What it is
Wearing a traction kite harness, control bar, lines and kite, snowboarders or skiers use the wind to sail down’or up’slopes at terrific speeds.

Where to find out more
Training in line kite use is helpful (search online for snowkiting schools in your area). You can give it a go in any wide-open snow-covered area as long as there are winds 5 mph or higher. Find out more at snowkiting.com.

3. Junkboarding

A low-tech way to extend the ski season when snow is hard to come by.

What it is
You fashion two ‘skis’ from one old snowboard by cutting it down the middle, and flipping the two halves so that the inside edges are the ‘ski’ or turning edges. You must also T-nut three-pin bindings to the boards. This rudimentary wider, shorter equipment allows skiers to plane over grass and gravel with just a dusting of snow, therefore greatly extending the season.

Where to find out more
Watch a video on junkboarding pioneer Justin Woods.

4. Airboarding

Airboarding is similar to bodyboarding in the ocean, except you’re careening on your stomach face first through plumes of fresh snow. It’s the ultimate form of sledding.

What it is
The airboard is an inflatable device with grooves on the underside that allow drivers to steer. Speed is the thrill’rides can reach close to 100 km an hour.

Where to find out more
Only a few select resorts in the United States are offering airboarding, but watch for it to pick up momentum. You can always buy your own airboard (search online) and head to the nearest snow-covered hill. Learn all about it at airboarders.com.

5. Kitewinging

‘Kitewinging’ is a way to bring speed to all our favourite winter sports including skiing, ice skating and snowboarding.

What it is
You control the kitewing (a wing-shaped sail that provides power and lift to any traction-based sport’but it is particularly fun ploughing through snow) with your hands (there are no lines). Think speed’skilled ‘pilots’ can reach speeds of more than 90 km an hour. You need a wind of 10-plus km/hour and a wide area of snow or ice to ‘surf.’

Where to find out more
Visit online communities such as windsports.net.

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