Off the beaten slope

There's more to winter sports than skiing and sledding.

The Pilgrims were a staid bunch whose favorite winter wonderland pursuit was staying out of the cold. Happily, we New Englanders have bucked our forefathers' traditions to find fun in the ice and snow. Most of us are familiar with the basic S's of winter sports - skating, sledding, skiing, snowboarding, and snow angels. Those looking for off-the-beaten-slopes activities should try these alternatives.

When curling finally succeeded in its long quest to become an Olympic sport in 1998, thousands cried out, "Uh, what's curling?" But John Buscaglia was curious. "I went to an open house, threw a few stones, and was hooked almost instantly," says Buscaglia, a member of Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland.

Known as "chess on ice" for its stone placement and shot strategies, curling is a polite sport played something like bocce ball. The object is to position stones in the house (ringed target) closest to the button (bull's eye). Stones, which were just random rocks when the game originated in 1500s Scotland, are now 42 pounds of polished, dense, pumpkin-shaped granite, concave on the bottom with a handle on top.

A curler throws (slides) a stone down the sheet (a 138-foot lane of pebbled ice), turning the handle gently to give it a slightly curved path, and teammates sweep the ice in front of the stone with brooms (cloth pads or brushes) to help with distance and direction. Modern curlers continue the post-bonspiel (tournament) tradition of broom stacking - sitting around a fire and drinking - and winners buy the first round.

Where to do it Broomstones Curling Club (Wayland. 508-358-2412. broomstones.com) . . . Curling season runs October to March, though the Cape Cod club in Falmouth (508-540-2414. capecodcurling.org) makes ice for two weeks in the summer. . . . Walpole's club (508-660-9546) stages bonspiels on New Pond. In Central Mass., try Petersham Curling Club (gncc.org/petersham).

Fading are the winters when a fisherman would pick a random spot on a frozen lake, cut a solitary hole in the ice, drop in a line, and sit on a bucket all day waiting for fish to bite. Plywood and metal shanties are giving way to heated, portable fishing tents, and between tugging on jigging sticks and monitoring the tip-up flags on their own ice traps, anglers often help one another work up to six holes apiece.

"Ice fishing gives otherwise solitary anglers the chance to spend time with friends, make a lot of noise, and still catch fish," says Michael Edwards, an editor at New England Sportsman who has been fishing on "hard water" for 20 years. The angler's holy grail is a monster lake trout or big Northern Pike, but, Edwards says, "It's just as much fun to go out with your kids and catch a mess of sunfish and perch."

Where to do it Arlington Mills Reservoir in Salem, N.H., Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, and the Moosehead and Sebec Lake Region in Maine. . . . Devonfield Inn in Lee (800-664-0880. devonfield.com) has packages. . . . Sally Mountain Cabins (800-644-5621) in Jackman, Maine, offers ice fishing from your cabin porch. . . . The annual Ice Fishing Derby in Meredith, N.H. is Feb. 9-10. (603-279-7600. meredithrotary.org/derby).

As a way of enjoying the winter countryside, it's tough to beat gliding over lakes and through the woods accompanied by only the sound of soft schussing of dog paws. The musher stands on narrow runners at the rear of a sled hitched to a team of Huskies, Malamutes, or other northern breeds, which can all move at a trot for six hours. Tandem sleds allow more guests to stand behind the musher, while others can snowshoe or cross-country ski alongside.

At Eden Mountain Dogsledding in Vermont's Green Mountains, Alaskan Huskies lead adventure tours through the wilderness bordering the Northeast Kingdom. As beautiful a ride as that can be, Eden's Jim Blair says that dog sledding is "all about the dogs." Atii Sled Dogs in Vermont's Mad River Valley offers lessons on skijoring - one or two dogs pulling a cross-country skier - "for owners with their own dogs that like to pull," says Atii's Gail Breslauer.

Where to do it Eden Mountain Dogsledding (Eden Mills, Vt. 802-635-9070. edendogsledding.com) . . . Atii Sled Dogs (Mooretown, Vt. 802-496-3795. AtiiSledDogs.com) . . . See SledDogCentral.com, DogSledRides.com, or Mahoosuc Guide Service (mahoosuc.com. 207-824-2073) for northern destinations. . . . Closer to home, try Warwick's Northern Illusion (978-544-5515. northernillusion.com), Brookfield's Northern Exposure Outfitters (508-867-4396. ne-outfitters.com), or White Mountain Sled Dogging (Whitfield, N.H. 978-649-0476. whitemtnsleddog.com). . . . New England Dog Sledding (207-836-2703. newenglanddogsledding.com) features trips into the Mt. Washington National Forest.

Why scale a rock when you can climb a frozen waterfall instead? The beautiful ice formations and the mental and physical challenges entice avid ice climbers such as Doug Millen, who runs Northeast Ice. Inspired by the stunning ice formations at favorite climbs, Millen grew his single Web-page listing of ice conditions into a "a virtual clubhouse" where ice climbers link to resources, read articles, and exchange stories and photos.

"Ice climbing is all about the gear," says Millen: ice axes, icefall crampons (spiked boot clamps), ropes, harnesses, ice screws, and maybe a shovel for hacking at ice dams. Rock climbing can be done with no gear at all - ice climbing would be impossible without it.

Where to do it Check neice.com, neclimbs.com, and chauvinguides.com for information on picturesque destinations in Crawford, Franconia, and Pinkham notches and Mount Washington Valley in New Hampshire, as well as the Lake Willoughby and Smugglers Notch areas in Vermont . . . . Mooney Mountain Guides (New Hampton, N.H. 603-744-5853. mooneymountainguides.com) provides guided climbs.

"No surfing in Dorchester Bay," lamented the lyric of a punk-era chestnut by the Gremmies. The idea of hanging 10 here seems even more incongruous in winter months, but it turns out that, while our seacoast is still no Waikiki, winter is prime time for surfing here. The waves are bigger, the crowds smaller, the vibe laid back. Still, even devotees will tell you that a surfer must be crazy - and covered in thick neoprene from head to toe - to consider braving the chill.

"I like surfing when the waves are bigger, cleaner, and more consistent," says former Gremmie Ralph Fatello, who works at Cinnamon Rainbows surf shop in Hampton, N.H., runs SurfFreeOrDie.com, and produces surfing documentaries. "Unfortunately, that's mostly in the fall, when it's cold, and the winter, when it's really cold. It's not for the faint of heart."

Where to do it Don't expect regulars to point out their surfing sweet spots. "Preserve some of the spirit of adventure and discovery," Fatello says. "Go and find it on your own, like I did." Poke around Boston's North Shore; Ogunquit, York, or Kittery Point in Maine; Hampton Beach in New Hampshire; or the outer edges of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island.