Montreal Winter Activities

The practice of snowshoeing is ancient, with a 6,000-year-old history of facilitating tribal movement through snowed-in woods. But yesteryear's necessity is today's sport, a recreational rite of passage for many Canadian children and a readily accessible activity in several Montreal parks come wintertime.

Out of all the Montreal winter activities listed here, ice skating takes a little more time to master in terms of technique, but once you've got the hang of it, the skill will stay with you for life.

No longer a mythical activity on some forgotten wish list, dog sledding in Montreal is officially a reality! But there's only one place in the city that offers this "sport," one very hard to come by in urban areas.

An affordable, easy-to-learn activity, cross country skiing is a great sport suitable for all ages, and Montreal is crawling with trails, over 200 km worth. Find out where they are.

If you grew up in Montreal, or anywhere across Quebec for that matter, chances are you've slipped on a pair of skis and snowplowed down a hill at least once in your life. It's kind of hard not to in a location that would freeze hell over six months of the year. Add to that chill eightysome alpine ski hills scattered throughout the province of Quebec and you've got yourself a local rite of passage. And even though Montreal has no downhill ski hills, all it takes is an hour's drive outside the city for some alpine action.

And visitors from all over, particularly from Europe, the United States and the rest of Canada, join us in the fun every year, though it can be confusing where to start with so many resorts scattered throughout the province.

Makeshift sledding hills are all over Montreal as soon as a few decent snowfalls make it possible. But there are five notable locations that are, arguably, the best sliding spots in the city. And they rent out toboggans and crazy carpets too.

Despite the fact that everyone seems to love rushing down a sharp incline in a snow tube, the island of Montreal has very limited inner tubing rental possibilities.

The sport -- think dogsled without dogs -- has been around for more than a century in Scandinavian countries, but kicksleds have only recently crossed the ocean.