Shovel racing? Ice cricket? The weirdest winter sports around the world

When you live somewhere that spends half the year covered in snow, you need to find ways to keep yourself entertained, sometimes that ends up with some pretty weird ideas! Let’s take a look at some of the weirdest winter sports…

Sort of like waterskiing but on snow and instead of a boat it’s a horse, or dogs pulling you along. This outlandish sport is usually competed on obstacle courses including jumps, because of course.

The Iditarod is the most famous sled dog race in the world (relative scale), covering 938 miles through Alaska. Urban Iditarod is like that but it’s people towing shopping carts through city streets whilst wearing costumes… maybe it’s not actually like the Iditarod at all…

Everyone’s heard of sledding or tobogganing, probably fewer people are aware of shovel racing, like sledding, but instead of sitting on a purpose-built sled, you ride downhill on a snow shovel.

From the Circus Maximus in Ancient Rome to the snow-covered courses of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, chariot racing is still going strong. The one difference is instead of sand, the horses and chariot drivers are zipping across near-frictionless snow, which probably makes it all a lot safer…

Image: @starvalleycutterracers Instagram

It’s not too often you’re required to build a usable outhouse, even less still that you need to strap said outhouse to skis and race it down a purpose-built course. For the residents of Trenary, Michigan, this is an annual event, which makes us question what else they’re getting up to!

Image: @discoverjacksonnc Instagram

Yukigassen is the Japanese sport of competitive snowball fighting, compared to some other sports on this list, this is completely sane. Still, there’s a Japan Yukigassen Federation that sets the rules and decides the winner each year, perhaps taking snowball fighting a little seriously!

Polo played on a frozen lake in St. Moritz, it really doesn’t get any more bougie than this. Of course, the Americans have transported the sport to Aspen, one of the US’s most exclusive ski resorts.

Another event based in the Swiss resort of St. Moritz, the annual Cricket on Ice attracts the rich and the famous to the biggest (and coldest) cricket match taking place in Switzerland each year. Essentially it’s cricket played on a frozen lake, but from its marketing, it seems more like a chance to kick back and drink champagne with equally wealthy people from around the world!