Winter Dipping in Lake Champlain In January, the UK s
Guardianwrote about the exhilarating joy of outdoor ice-bathing, a centuries-old practice that has soared during lockdown as a much-needed pandemic stress reliever and endorphin releaser. It s pretty normal if you re in Sweden or Denmark or Finland, said Burlington painter Katharine Montstream of the pastime. In the UK, this is
huge, and it s really blowing up. Especially with [the] pandemic, they have had a huge surge of people wanting to do this and needing outlets. The same is true in Vermont, it seems. Montstream has been winter dipping regularly in Lake Champlain for three years, but the pandemic prompted her to begin plunging in nearly every day. She s amassed a group of friends, playfully dubbed the Red Hot Chilly Dippers, who join in her shivery adventures. Montstream documents their dips through photos and videos on an Instagram page that has more than 1,500 followers.
Sue Clippinger (left) and her husband, John (right), are joined by Ros Everdell while cross-country skiing at Franklin Park in Boston on Feb. 11.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
If there was something you could do this weekend that would get you out of the house, and make you feel better physically
and mentally, would you do it? For many of us, the answer is yes, so weâre pulling those old cobweb-covered cross-country skis out of the closet.
âCross-country skiing is a great pandemic activity ⦠with skis that are almost 6 feet long, it is actually challenging to get close to anyone else!â says Reese Brown of the Cross-Country Ski Areas Association (xcski.org), based in Woodstock, Vt. âAdditionally, the trails are wide and there are few choke points, allowing skiers to keep their distance while on the trails.â Many skiers have their own equipment and buy passes online, allowing them to go directly from the parking lot to the trails, with no need to go insid