Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Artificial ice can be used to provide ice rinks for ice skating, ice hockey, and bandy in a milder climate.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a major metropolitan area built around the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in east central Minnesota. The area is commonly known as the Twin Cities after its two largest cities, Minneapolis, the most populous city in the state, and Saint Paul, the state capital. It is an example of twin cities in the sense of geographical proximity. Minnesotans living outside of Minneapolis and Saint Paul often refer to the two together as "The Cities".
A snowmobile, also known as a motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, snowscooter, or snowmachine, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not require a road or trail, but most are driven on open terrain or trails. Snowmobiling is a sport that many people have taken on as a serious hobby.
Polaris Industries is an American manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATV, and neighborhood electric vehicles. Polaris was founded in Roseau, Minnesota, USA, where it still has engineering and manufacturing. The company's corporate headquarters is in Medina, Minnesota. The company manufactured motorcycles through its Victory Motorcycles subsidiary until January 2017, and currently produces motorcycles through the Indian Motorcycle subsidiary, which it purchased in April 2011. Polaris produced personal watercraft from 1994-2004.
Mat Hoffman is an American BMX rider who is considered one of the best vert ramp riders in the history of the sport. He is nicknamed "The Condor" and runs the BMX Freestyle brand Hoffman BMX Bikes based out of Oklahoma City, OK.
Theodore Raymond "T. R." Knight is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. George O'Malley on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Having acted on stage since the age of five, Knight had starred on Broadway, off-Broadway, and theatre productions in his home state of Minnesota. He received a Drama Desk Award nomination for his performance in MCC Theater's Scattergood in 2003.
Joshna Chinappa is an Indian professional squash player. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 10 in July 2016. Joshna was the first Indian to win the British Squash Championship title in 2003 in the under 19 category and was also the youngest Indian women's national champion. Joshna Chinappa is the first beneficiary of Mittal Champions Trust.
Interstate 35W (I-35W) is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Minneapolis. It is one of two through routes for I-35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being I-35E through downtown Saint Paul. I-35 splits into two branch routes: I-35W, which serves Minneapolis, and I-35E, which serves Saint Paul.
Johnny Spillane is an American athlete who competes in nordic combined, a combination event consisting of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. Spillane is a world champion and three-time Olympic silver medalist. He announced his retirement from Nordic combined on April 18, 2013.
Purcell & Elmslie (P&E), as it was most widely known, was a progressive American architectural practice. P&E was the second most commissioned firm of the Prairie School, after Frank Lloyd Wright. The firm was active from 1917 to 1921.
Leonardo Jorge Costa is a former freestyle and backstroke swimmer from Brazil, who represented his native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. His biggest success was winning the gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Blair Morgan is a multi-time CMRC Canadian National championship-winning motocross racer who was racing for Ski-Doo Racing. He is also a multi-time World Snocross snowmobile champion and a 5-times X-Games gold medalist. Blair is a fan-favorite in the sport for his sheer speed and determination. He has made several comebacks from devastating injuries, and is crediting with pioneering the modern snocross riding style, drawing comparisons to Jeremy McGrath of supercross for his innovation.
Snocross is a racing sport involving racing specialized high performance snowmobiles on natural or artificially-made tracks consisting of tight turns, banked corners, steep jumps and obstacles. Riders race at speed of up to 60 miles per hour. Jumps are up to 30 feet tall, so riders travel up to 130 feet before they touch the ground. According to the World Snowmobile Association which governs snocross, watercross, and hillcross racing, snocross is the most popular form of snowmobile racing.
Winter X Games XII were held from January 24 to January 27, 2008 in Aspen, Colorado. They were the 7th consecutive Winter X Games to be held in Aspen. Television coverage of Winter X Games XII was broadcast on ESPN and ABC, primarily hosted by Sal Masekela and Todd Harris. Final attendance for the four-day event was 72,500.
Buck Hill is a ski hill in Burnsville, Minnesota, a suburb south of Minneapolis. It is one of three ski areas in the Twin Cities metropolitan area; the others are Afton Alps and Hyland Ski and Snowboard Area. Buck Hill opened in 1954 and offers ski, snowboard, and tubing trails. Artificial snow is often used to maintain the slopes, because while Minnesota's winters are cold, the average annual snowfall is low for a ski area: less than 60 in (150 cm).
Nick Baumgartner is a United States snowboarder from Iron River, Michigan. He competes in snowboard cross (SBX) and qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He won the gold and silver medals in the 2011 and 2012 Winter X Games. Baumgartner competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Stephen "Steve" Arpin is a Canadian race car driver competing in the Global RallyCross Championship. He previously raced stock cars in the ARCA Racing Series, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series. His first season with ARCA was in 2009 finishing 7th in the championship standings and winning the ARCA RE/MAX Series Most Popular Driver Award. He was also the 2008 USAC Silver Crown Series Rookie of the Year.
The Northern Great Plains History Conference is an annual conference of history professors, graduate students, historical society experts, and other scholars interested in the history of the Great Plains states of the American Midwest. The Conference features scholarly papers by academics and advanced students on a variety of topics, especially in social history and military history, as well as regional topics regarding the Great Plains.
Scott Andrew Fraser was a Canadian professional racing car driver from Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Fraser was considered by many to be one of the best stock car racers in Canada.
