Beating cabin fever

Indiana's winter is arriving and there's no hiding from it. Unless you're a first year student from out of state we all know what this means: boots, huge coats, no more short shorts and tank tops, not wanting to get out bed for that long trek to your 8 a.m. class in Swain West, slippery roads and frostbite. \nAnd unlike in high school, there's no more watching the local news for school delays resulting from too much snow. \nIf you are like some Friday night party girls, the winter weather will not stop you from having a good old time. You can still wear the revealing sleeveless shirts without a jacket and uncovered high heels minus socks and go bar hopping all over downtown Bloomington. But for those unaccustomed to the blistering wintry weather, there are still activities to do during the cold long winter. Some are traditional winter pastimes like ice skating and sledding, while other activities are slightly more unusual.\nWith the Bloomington ice rink either no longer in service or only open to the public at sporadic hours on random weekdays, the nearest rink is a drive away. \nAcross from the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, in the basement of what looks like an office building, you can find the Indiana World Skating Academy ice rink. It's a large rink with convenient hours of operation, especially on the weekends. \nFormer IU student Alan Long worked at IWSA for seven years and became quite the talented skater while serving as a skate guard there. \n"Every year I say it's my last year here and it's been five years now," Long said. "I just can't turn down the free ice skating. It's loads of fun, plus it reminds me that winter isn't all that bad." \nFor some good old counterclockwise laps around the rink and hot dogs and hot chocolate, this rink is the place. \n"If you don't know how to skate it doesn't really matter," Long said. "But if you don't have the confidence to really give it a try then you will fall the minute some speedy teenager races by. I have seen lots of guys ruin their dates that way." \nIf ice skating is not your thing and you are looking for a completely innovative way to spend your winter, senior Mike LaFollette has his own recipe for fun. \n"My favorite thing to do in the winter is go on night sledding missions at Griffey Lake," LaFollette said. "My roommate and I go out at three in the morning with old school Radio-Flyer sleds and ride through the woods." \nIn these missions, LaFollette and his cohorts hike through the dark woods and search for the perfect sledding hills. This is obviously not for the faint-of-heart. Sledding in and around huge trees in the middle of the night can be risky with the reduced visibility. LaFollette witnessed the danger firsthand last year on an adventure around Lake Griffey.\n"We were sledding onto the frozen lake and my roommate Michael was going down a hill," LaFollette said. "It was too steep and he was going really fast when all of a sudden he went airborne and wrapped horizontally around a tree, backwards. I think he had see a chiropractor a few weeks later." \nIf late night sledding through the woods sounds too dangerous, senior Troy Thompson a winter routine of his own. \n"When it's snowing outside I like to snowshoe around the neighborhood," Thompson said. "It's a whole new way of walking, I love it, but sadly it doesn't snow enough in Bloomington."\nThompson bought his snowshoes at a sporting goods store after a friend returned from a trip to Canada and told him all about it. \n"You can really move in those things," Thompson said. "After you do it for a while you just get in the zone." \nAfter snowshoeing for several winters, Thompson said it became gradually more tedious. \n"I had really gotten into it, but it was getting old just strapping on the shoes and walking around the same old neighborhoods," says Thompson. \nLast winter Thompson was dared by a friend to try the ultimate rush: snowshoeing in the nude. \n"I tried snowshoeing in the nude in a wooded trail behind my house, half because of the dare, half because I wanted the rush," Thompson said, "but I did it in the early morning when no one was around. I think a few people may have seen me, but they pretended not to notice." \nWhile Thompson would recommend snowshoeing to just about anyone, he suggests that everyone dress appropriately. \n"A couple times I just needed that frigid rush that comes from running freely through the snow. Plus it wakes me up and reminds me I'm alive," Thompson said. "People who don't like cold weather or anyone from Florida would probably get hypothermia trying what I did."\nThere is no denying it, old man winter is upon us, but it doesn't have to mean the end of outdoor adventures. There is plenty to do if you know how to fight the frost. If you just can't stand the winter weather, hot chocolate, long underwear, and television will be your best friends for the next three to four months. \nThompson said he cannot wait until winter really hits.\n"I anxiously await the first snowfall in Bloomington," he said.