Snow is falling, all around us, and with first term drawing to a close it’s time for me to share the very best winter sports and activities that you and your friends can get up to before you run home to get your mum to do your washing and stuff yourselves with pigs in blankets.
"Ah, ice skating. The old reliable. The festive wingman of many first dates at Winter Wonderland."
Let’s start with the basics. Get a sled (plank of wood with string attached is highly recommended). Find a hill (Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath are great, or Greenwich Park if you’re *shudder* south of the river). Go down hill on sled. Repeat.
Ah, ice skating. The old reliable. The festive wingman of many first dates at Winter Wonderland. Best to go in groups to avoid falling in love with each other. Whether you’re Bambi-On-Ice or Olympic-Speed-Skater, rinks at the aforementioned Winter Wonderland (stay tuned for our very own MDX Matrix cheerleading squad enjoying themselves here), Somerset House, and even a covered rink in Canary Wharf for anyone scared of battling the elements.
For those that think speeding around on one of the hardest surfaces on Earth with knives on your feet isn’t enough, there’s always an option for stage 2 – adding big sticks. Maybe aimed slightly above the Bambi level skaters, you don’t need to be Wayne Gretzky to get on the ice. A lot of teams in the UK are mixed and more social than what you might expect of Ice Hockey, and you can go to the English Ice Hockey Association (https://eiha.co.uk/) to find a recreational team.
You never know, maybe this time next year I can be writing about MDX’s new Ice Hockey team.
Apparently invented in Scotland, curling is a team sport that combines skill, accuracy, and sweeping like a madman in a chimney. If you’re willing to venture to the far east lands of Stratford, you can take advantage of their rooftop curling bar to finally achieve your dreams of becoming a curling master – the definition of CV gold.
Go-karts. Ice. Ever since Bond Tokyo Drifted his way through a glacier in his shiny Vanquish, it’s been every little boys dream (at least, mine) to do the same. Not really sure what else there is to say about this one. The place in London that offers this (Queens) also does Ice Skating and Curling, so you can make a very expensive day of it.
So that’s it, the most comprehensive guide to winter activities in London a student could ever ask for. If any of you have done this ice karting thing, good for you. Put a video up for me to watch or something. Anyone looking for snowy activities at Middlesex, we have a snowsports team that’d love to have you (ask at the sports office).
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