Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Playing areas and fields consist of either snow or ice.
Skating in the 17th century
1901 Davos travel poster
United States biathlete Jeremy Teela at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Ski jumping at Salpausselkä in Lahti, Finland in 2010
Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 °C, 32 °F, or 273.15 K. As a naturally occurring crystalline inorganic solid with an ordered structure, ice is considered to be a mineral. Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaque bluish-white color.
An ice block, photographed at the Duluth Canal Park in Minnesota
This iceberg can stay afloat in spite of its size because it is less dense than water
So-called feather ice on the plateau near Alta, Norway. The crystals form at temperatures below −30 °C (−22 °F) and contain a lot of trapped air, making them light enough to be supported by the thin branch
Frozen waterfall in southeast New York