As Aussies, we love our sports. And we don’t mind them a little crazy. But those Canadians take craziness to the nth degree – especially when it comes to their madcap winter sports.
Do you think you have what it takes to try them?
If you do, now is the time to test your skills, with Air Canada already flying to the land of sweet maple syrup non-stop from Sydney, and now f course from Brisbane on their Dreamliner service.
Which means that getting to Canada has never been easier – or more comfortable – thanks to major cabin upgrades and the not that long ago introduction of a Premium Economy product for the first-time ever.
But back to the craziness.
Here are five crazy winter sports that you can try on your next – or first – trip to O Canada.
1. Wok racing
Credit: Getty Images
Most people leave the wok where it belongs: in the kitchen.
But not in Canada.
Wok racing – where teams race against each other downhill in specially designed woks – is the latest craze (pun intended) sweeping across Canada, and boy does it look like fun…
And scary – these woks can reach speeds of up to 100km/h, so please be careful!
2. Ice hockey
Before we delve even deeper into the craziness of Canadian winter sports, we can’t not mention good old ice hockey – which can get totally crazy at times…
(Don’t believe me? YouTube “ice hockey brawls. Yep, told you!)
Ice hockey is a full contact team sport played on ice in a rink, in which two teams basically do everything they can to scare the other team into submission. Shooting the hard rubber puck into the goals is just a sweet bonus.
And it looks as if its appeal is reaching down under, thanks to Air Canada’s sponsorship of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL).
Ice hockey is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in Australia, with arena attendance exceeding 100,000 for the first time in 2015 and hundreds of thousands of people watching the matches on Fox Sports – a result due in large part to Air Canada’s sponsorship and support, according to AIHL Commissioner, Robert Bannerman.
The highlight of the year is the finals match for the Goodall Cup – the world’s third oldest ice hockey trophy.
Air Canada also screens the final and semi-final matches from the Goodall Cup on its global in-flight entertainment system.
3. Ice sailing
What do keen sailors do when winter comes around and the lakes freeze over?
Do they pack up their yachts for the season, and take up a new sport – say ice hockey or wok racing?
Well, they could, or they could also just mount their sailboats on runners and use the wind to help them glide across frozen surfaces.
Welcome to the world of ice sailing, an adrenaline-pumping winter sport that’s a testament to the crazy Canadian spirit.
4. Equestrian skijoring
Source: Wikipedia.
Skijoring is a popular winter sport in Norway that’s basically a combination of cross-country skiing and dog sledding.
But over in Canada, a whole new level of craziness is injected into the sport by using horses instead of dogs to pull skiers across the snow.
Sometimes these crazy skiers even take jumps whilst attached to said horses!
5. Skeleton
No, we’re not talking anatomy here.
We’re talking a serious Olympic sport where athletes ride a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled (or sleigh) down a frozen track while lying face down, reaching speeds of up to 120km/h.
Try this one at your own risk!
Are you crazy enough to try these Canadian winter sports?
This article was brought to you by:
