The nation can’t get enough of the ongoing Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina. From Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds revitalising a national interest in curling earlier this competition to NHL stars taking the ice in the Winter games for the first time since the 2014 games in Sochi. With this year’s games being as popular as they are, more people are looking to take up the events they see and there are plenty of places offering opportunities to try winter sport in the North East.
Skiing and Snowboarding
When you think about winter sports, there is a good chance these are among the first sports you think of. Skiing is incredibly popular in England, with a reported 1.2-1.8 million British adults being an active skier or snowboarder, according to Ski Press UK. There are multiple venues for beginners to join these numbers, one of these being Silksworth sports complex and ski slope. Located in Sunderland, Silksworth is the pinnacle of skiing in the North East. An official from the facility said it was too early to tell if the Olympics was having an impact on its visitor numbers. She added: “This is such a busy time of the year anyway that it’s difficult to really tell but people have been talking about it around the facility and we have it on for people to watch.” They do however have a discount for booking just after the Olympics end to get visitors ready for Spring ski trips. Silksworth is not the only opportunity however as Snozone in York also offers lessons and opportunities to both ski and snowboard.
Ice Skating/ Ice Hockey
Ice skating is another one of the more common activities in Britain and the Billingham Forum is one of the most popular places to skate in the North East. The Billingham Forum also functions as home for the Billingham Stars ice hockey team. Team GB is unfortunately not competing in hockey at Milano-Cortina, having lost in the final qualifying round prior to the Olympics. “I don’t have any definite stats but the skating definitely seems to be more busy than usual,” a Billingham Forum Ice Arena secretary said about the impact the Olympics have had on their business. The Forum is home of the Billingham Stars and they, along with their league mates often see large crowds for their games. For those looking for a more elegant style of skating, Billingham Forum also offers figure skating sessions, both for people looking to learn the event or those who are more advanced skaters.
Curling
Curling has seen a lot of growth thanks to the Olympics. Mouat and Dodds’ performance in the mixed group stages really started the interest and Team GB men’s thrilling story to the gold medal match just multiplied that interest. Just up the border in Scotland, they can’t get enough of curling, with multiple ice rinks setting up try curling sessions and those sessions filling up almost immediately. Curling has seen an almost 200% increase in searches in England since the Winter games started and twice as popular as it was four years ago during the Beijing games. Social media has displayed that there is a huge appetite for curling. There is only one issue with that: it still isn’t widely available. Not properly at least. The nearest official curling rink is the Flower Bowl in Preston. Despite this, there are still chance to try out the sport in a more beginner friendly way with ice-free curling. Ice free curling is a simplified version of curling. There are no sweepers and the game overall is smaller. The overall aim remains the same to get the most of your stones nearest to the centre and serves as a brilliant springboard into actual curling. Ice free curling is also much more widely available and there are a couple of venues near Teesside offering it. Roxy Ball Room offers The Stonebow in York and The Light in Leeds as the nearest opportunities to Teesside.
