If you already happen to be an alpine skier or snowboarder, you already know how much fun winter can be. But not everyone wants to ski or snowboard. That still leaves snow tubing, snowshoeing, ice skating, ice fishing, cross-country skiing, ice climbing, winter camping, and winter mountaineering as possibilities to get you out and about this winter.

Let’s just take snow tubing as an example of a fun way to get yourself outdoors. Tubing is more popular than ever, and there are opportunities everywhere.

It wasn’t so long ago that all you needed to go out and play in the snow was a flexible flyer sled, a toboggan or a round flying saucer, and a sloping field. Yeah, you had to wait for it to snow, and you had to walk up the hill in order to slide down, but the fun was there. Then somebody built a house in the field and your chance was gone.

Enter capitalism.

Some bright soul invented the hard-bottom tube – an inner tube encased in a cloth cover riding on a hard plastic saucer. It’s fast, stable, safe and comfortable. Then they figured out that tubing offered some of the thrills and fun of skiing or snowboarding without the long learning curve, and that the snowmakers, groomers and lifts that make life easy and fun for skiers and snowboarders could also be used to make life fun for tubers. And, in fact, if you get a stretch of lousy weather (like the rain, fog and hard re-freeze we’ve seen recently), the tubing actually gets better.

We’re talking a revolution here. Now, all of a sudden, whether there’s snow on the ground in your backyard or not, you’ve got a perfectly wonderful new excuse to get out and play in the snow. You won’t get a lot of exercise, but it’s better than watching TV.

There’s no skill or equipment involved in tubing. You find the nearest area, pay a few bucks and you have fun.

Recently at Granite Gorge (603-358-5000; www.granitegorge.com) in Roxbury, N.H., for example, it was $14 for two hours – and that was on a busy holiday. For that price, we got the use of a tube and as many runs as we wanted to squeeze in, riding comfortably up the carpet lift between runs.

It was the first time Marilyn or I had gone sledding in a number of years. Her comment after her first run was that she’d never tried anything that transported her back to childhood so quickly. She couldn’t stop giggling.

Same for me. I hadn’t experienced anything like it since my kids were little. I’m used to sliding on snow in control on skis. In a tube, you’ve got little or no control, you just go, knowing that the track sides will keep you going in the right direction and that you’ll somehow stop at the bottom. I just couldn’t stop grinning.

We were the only two adults on the mountain not accompanied by a kid. Next time, we’ll have to borrow a kid to take with us, we’re not going to wait for grandchildren to enjoy this again!

What are you waiting for? Dress warmly and go. Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out and enjoy.

Some fun events

Cannon Mountain (603-823-8800; www.cannonmt.com) in Franconia, N.H., will hold the Snow Triathlon to benefit the Littleton Regional Hospital Charitable Foundation on Saturday, Jan. 29. The race will include one leg of skiing or snowboarding, one leg of snowshoeing, and last leg “unique tubing.”

Registration for the race will start at the Tram Valley Station at Cannon Mountain from 8-10 a.m., with the race beginning at 10 a.m. and the award ceremony and raffle at 3 p.m. at the Peabody Lodge. The cost for teams of two is $95, and teams of the three $125. The price includes T-shirts and lift tickets.

Also on Jan. 29, Jackson Ski Touring Center (603-383-9355; www.jacksonxc.org) in Jackson, N.H., is offering free cross country ski or snowshoe rentals and trail pass from 1 p.m. to closing for new Nordic skiers and snowshoers.

Tim Jones is a full-time freelance writer on travel and outdoor sports. His email address is [email protected]