Although the holidays may be over, St. Louis can still expect many more weeks of wintery weather and consequential college student cabin fever. Luckily, winter activities still abound within a short distance from campus will keep you from feeling trapped in your dorm or apartment.
With the Winter Olympic Games kicking off in Sochi on Feb. 6, it’s hard not to be inspired by the best of the best of extreme winter sports. If anything, Forest Park is one of the greatest places to channel your inner Olympian in St. Louis.
Break out the sparkly spandex, sharpen those blades on your old skates and get ready to show off your skills at the Steinberg Skating Rink. Conveniently located in the middle of Forest Park, the Steinberg Rink is an open-to-the-public amenity perfect for skaters of all levels of expertise. Whether or not your skating skills are of Olympic quality, one can simply enjoy experiencing the lights and decorations surrounding the rink, as well as the cozy open fire pits and the Snowflake Café. The Steinberg Skating Rink is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is $6 for everyone with an additional $5 to rent skates. The last day to skate will be Feb. 27.
And if ice skating still does not meet your extreme sporting expectations, there is always the centuries-old tradition of sledding on Art Hill in front of the Saint Louis Art Museum. According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the tradition of sledding has existed since the park’s opening in 1876. It was 109 years ago when workers at the World’s Fair in 1905 were famously photographed sliding down the hill in front of the Art Museum on random flat objects, including folding chairs. Since then, all it takes is a decent amount of snowfall for St. Louisans to come out and slide down the hill on sleds, skis, saucers and even pieces of cardboard and plastic. Which poses the challenge, how creative can you be with your sledding object?
Then, there is always the option of leaving it up to the pros. The St. Louis Blues offer $22 tickets to students for specific home games, which is quite the bargain considering tickets are typically about twice that amount. All it takes to cash in on this deal is to present a valid student ID at the Ford Box Office located on the Clark Avenue side of the arena.
With the Union Station Metrolink stop one block away, the Scottrade Center is easily accessible for SLU students. There’s no better way to relieve some new semester stresses than getting your friends together and watching the pros duke it out in an action-packed battle on the ice. The discounted ticket rates only apply to certain home games. Such games include Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 6, March 13, March 27 and April 3.
