Even though we didn’t have a white Christmas this year, Alaska was still able to get some much-needed snow the next day, allowing skiers, ice skaters and everyone in between to get out and have fun.

“We’re just going to take a nice walk to the whale,” Grant Klug said. “I’m from Seattle and have heard a lot about the whale. It’s just nice to visit family and get a chance to see him.”

And while it wasn’t a particularly good year for snow, it was a great year for ice formation, according to Mike Braniff, the township’s recreation director. This made it very easy for the parks and recreation team to get all the skating facilities operational.

“There are a total of seven that are available to the public to skate,” Braniff said. “We have two hockey rinks, three lakes and two ice skating rinks in the figure eight at Chanshtnu Muldoon Park and the speed skating oval in Cuddy.”

Every day of the week, Parks and Recreation resurfaces the ice so the public has a great surface to skate on. To help people find the surface that suits them, the Anchorage Park Foundation has put together a three-winter newspaper that not only guides Alaskans to a good ice skating rink, but also where to find other places for winter fun find.

“So everyone can watch it. There are toboggan runs all over the city. The moderate to challenging hills include Centennial, Russian Jack, Kincaid Park and Service High School, a favorite of my staff,” said Beth Nordland, executive director of the Anchorage Park Foundation.

While the newspaper was distributed in October, readers will find information about winter walks, snowshoeing and other types of adventures, including fat-tire cycling, in Insider.

“So there are all sorts of interesting things you can do: kicksledding, dog sledding and of course ice skating. And we work hard to maintain these rinks and ovals in the city. So it’s worth checking out,” said Nordland.

If you would like to take a look at this newspaper, you can also find all the small excerpts from the newspaper on the foundation’s website, where there is even a map of all the toboggan runs. With all parks and rinks operational, there is something for everyone this winter break, no matter what the adventure.