Ice sculpting
Want to come back from your winter trip with an arty new skill rather than just aching legs? Ice-sculpting isn't easy but you isn't only for seasoned experts. Take a beginner's course in this super-cool craft, and you could be on the way to becoming a dab hand, and before you know it you'll be chiselling lifeless blocks of ice into motorbikes, animals and mini Taj Mahals. Just be careful with that chainsaw.
Where to do it: Introductory lessons are available in beautiful Breckenridge, which also happens to be the location of the International Snow Sculpture Championships at the end of January.

Ice golf
Really an activity only for the seriously dedicated and / or slightly mad, ice golf does what it says on the tin. It's not a regular pastime at many winter resorts, but golf fans may want to journey to Greenland next March for the World Ice Golf Championships, where players tee off in icy conditions north of the Arctic circle. It's probably the only tournament where "a polar bear ate my golf ball" can reasonably be given as an excuse for failure...