Ho-Ho-Horrible… These are the five most bizarre winter sports in the world

5. Ice Karting

Karting is funny enough on regular racing tracks, but how about doing it on ice? Instead of classic asphalt the contenders have to compete on entirely frozen slopes.

Undoubtedly, the tires must be appropriately modified by replacing the normal tires with specific dowelled ones and nails screwed into the tread.

4. Skijoring

This one is quite fun, since it involves two of the most loved animals: horses and dogs.

Practised first in Scandinavia and Alaska, skijoring basically consists in being pulled by horses and dogs in a snowy court which can have obstacles and ramps for the competitors to jump around and be truly tested.

The races length tends to vary from 5 km to 20 km long, but in Russia it could be even 440 km long.

3. Ski Ballet

Similar to figure skating, this sport simply consists of combined choreographed spins and flips during a two-minute long song.

Also known as “Acroski” in the nineties, it tries to be considered a competitive sport among the ski community.

Since it’s not an Olympic sport, ski ballet’s popularity dipped in the past few years and no formal competition has been played since 2000.

2. Wok racing

Yes, you read that right… Who would imagine that a flat-bottomed Asian pan, which can serve some of the best Yakisoba, could turn into sports equipment?

It was first created as joke by the German TV host Stefan Raab in 2003, but soon became a real, professional sport due to the success in the country.

The competitors sit in a wok and run down an official Olympic Bobsled track. They have to use protective gear similar to hockey, since the racers can get up to 105 km/h, which is the world record still to be beaten in the spor

1. Yukigassen

Everyone who’s been in a snowy place before might have been handed a bunch of snow and transformed it into a big, cold ball to throw at their friends.

Well, this type of fun took a step forward and turned into a competitive sport.

Yukigassen consists of the words Yuki (snow) and kassen (battle) in Japanese, and the main objective is to capture the opposition’s flag without being hit by a snowball.

For protection purposes, the players have to wear helmets that also cover their faces. Official tournaments take place in Japan, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, United States (more specifically in Alaska), Canada and Russia.

Featured photograph/Wikipedia Commons/Inverty