What is Winter Fun Ulaanbaatar city? What activities can be done?
Skiing
Nestled in the valley overlooking the eastern section of the city is “Sky Resort”. Designed by a French company, the resort is equipped with a Italian snow making system. It has all you need for mountain or cross country skiing. Rentals from HEAD or Rossingol are available at the Ski House. All kinds of snow gear, including safety gear are available for rent too. Night lights illuminate the entire area, making it accessible from 0900 to 2200 at night. As they say, there’s never bad weather, but bad clothing. So if you are dressed properly, you can ski in the temperatures ranging between 10-20 Celsius, making it an interesting point in a story to tell tour friends back home. During the months of March an April, Russian and Chinese Spring Festivals can be observed here. For a quick bite, the resort offers snacks in the Ski House Restaurant, which can accommodate up to 300 people. If your preference is fine dining, then you may choose the Club House Restaurant. For more information, check out the following web site: skyresort.mn
Hiking Amoung Trees
Ulaanbaatar is surrounded by four wonderful mountain ranges which are covered with trees including the Siberian Larch, Pine, Wild Aspen and Birch. In the winter months, these are like medicine and on a weekend, locals like to hike in the mountains as there are several great hiking trails to choose from. Hiking in the snow enables you to enjoy the utter quietness of Winter’s tranquility, and so long as you know your way around, you can trek almost anywhere you want to! Since the snow’s surface is hardly ever disturbed, except by the wildlife, it creates s sense of exploring the unknown parts of the mountain, as if no humans ever set foot there before!
Many locals contest that if you leave the city without experiencing the hiking, you are missing a big part of the Winter joy. Locals like to bring out their hot beverages such as tea and coffee, supplemented with some food and they just sit under trees to enjoy the afternoon fresh air. Ask any one of your local hosts and they will direct you where to go.
Dog Sledding
It is a relatively new comer to the city’s Winter travel programs, however dog sledding is now already one of the favorite ways of passing time for the city goers. Every weekend, sleds pulled by husky dogs offer rides along the frozen Tuul river all the way up to the Gorkhi Terelj National Park. Optional overnight trips can be arranged too, covering up to 50-100 km distance. As long as you are geared with quality down jackets, it is a pleasant way of traveling in close interation with nature. Many past travelers attest how much they didn’t know about the city’s winter ecosystem before taking the sled ride.
Ice Sports
Driving just about 50 km north of the city, you can test your skills over an ice wall built for winter sports lovers, where every winter, a national competition is held. There are also several ice rings in the city for those who love skating. The Hunnu Mall, located along the way to the airport, offers an all-season open and indoor skating ring. Every Febraury, the city also organizes the annual Ice Festival which features many traditional Mongolian games including an ice ankle-bone shooting competition. If you are willing, the experts love to share and teach their skills to the visitors.
