{"id":15131,"date":"2025-02-10T21:00:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T21:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/?p=15131"},"modified":"2025-02-21T20:48:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T20:48:39","slug":"the-coolest-contest-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/en\/the-coolest-contest-this-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coolest Contest This Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>There\u2019s nothing quite like a sheet of outdoor ice to bring out your inner Canadian.<\/h2>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s a naturally frozen pond or a lovingly groomed community rink, outdoor skating in the winter can connect you to your inner child like few other <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/below-zero\/lets-play.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outdoor activities<\/a> can. I should know \u2013 I strapped on my skates for the first time this winter last week to do a few laps on the neighbourhood rink and my smile was as contagious as the drippy-nosed kids who were skating circles around me.<\/p>\n<p>Mother Nature doesn\u2019t always cooperate when it comes to supplying the necessary weather conditions to ensure a thick pad of <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/en\/vanishing-ice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outdoor ice<\/a> all winter. In Ottawa, for example, last year&#8217;s warm December and January weather destroyed any hope of skating on the Rideau Canal, an annual ritual for thousands of locals and visitors to the nation\u2019s capital. Changing climate patterns across the country often challenge the notion of Canada being \u201cThe Great White North\u201d and experiencing an avalanche of snow coast to coast the moment winter arrives. The reality is there can be three feet of November snow in Calgary while residents of Niagara are still barbecuing. That said, there\u2019s still reason to enjoy the \u201cthrill of the chill\u201d when temperatures across Canada drop below zero.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/below-zero\/contest.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Enter winter contest &gt;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The Thrill of the Chill<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sFlh5c FyHeAf iPVvYb\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/snow-family-outside-playing.jpg\" alt=\"snow-family-outside-playing \u2013 Your Connection to Wildlife\" aria-hidden=\"false\" \/>Maintaining a connection to nature is one of the biggest reasons to go outside and bask in the frigid glory of a Canadian winter. There are walking trails to hike, ski trails to traverse, toboggan runs to enjoy, forests to explore and all kinds of active wildlife to see. For fans of the <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/below-zero\/download-the-app.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iNaturalist app<\/a>, winter is a great time to track bird observations in forests barren of leaves or to collect sound recordings of those species that prefer to stick around.<\/p>\n<p>The fact is hibernation is not an option for humans; we\u2019re a four-season species despite the annual migration of some Canadian snowbirds to warmers climes. For those of us who prefer to stay in Canada, getting outside is also a way to avoid the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression related to changes in the season \u2013 most commonly through the winter months. After all, it\u2019s hard to be depressed when you\u2019re strapped to a snowboard catching air off the top of a hill full of moguls or using the snow to make \u201cmaple taffy\u201d with good old Canadian maple syrup.<\/p>\n<p>To inspire you to get outside, the Canadian Wildlife Federation invites you to visit <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/below-zero\/?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=blog&amp;utm_campaign=bz&amp;utm_content=25110\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Below Zero<\/a>. Here you\u2019ll find a variety of resources designed to foster a deeper appreciation for the joys of a Canadian winter.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/below-zero\/lets-play.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">list of 50 fun things<\/a> to do outside with family and friends<\/li>\n<li>Educational <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/below-zero\/videos.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">videos from Indigenous storyteller Dickie Yuzikapi<\/a> extolling the virtues of traditional outdoor games enjoyed in First Nations communities<\/li>\n<li>Links to <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/below-zero\/wildlife-in-winter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hinterland Who\u2019s Who videos<\/a> to help you learn more about wildlife in winter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let\u2019s hear it for winter \u2013 the coolest season of the year both figuratively and literally! Now get out there and have some fun!<\/p>\n<h4>Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/explore\/wild-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CWF&#8217;s WILD Education &gt;<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-excerpt\">There\u2019s nothing quite like a sheet of outdoor ice to bring out your inner Canadian. Whether it\u2019s a naturally frozen pond or a lovingly groomed community rink, outdoor skating in&hellip;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[631],"tags":[850,854],"class_list":["post-15131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connect-with-nature","tag-below-zero","tag-wildlife-in-winter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15131"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15192,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131\/revisions\/15192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}