There’s been a lot of snow kicking around in the Northern Hemisphere lately. But we’re keeping our spirits warmed with thoughts of all the fun to be had on the snowy slopes of Europe, the USA and Canada. New Zealand, your time will come!

To share our winter cheer with readers, we thought we’d let you know about some great stuff to do on Ooh.com this winter. You can find even more Cool Stuff to do this winter in our Hall of Fame.

Here are a few of the most recently elected Winter highlights!

A fantastic opportunity to gain an insight into the Japanese language and enjoy some winter sports at the same time.

We’ve heard that winter 09/10 is going to be a massive year for backcountry (off-piste) skiing. And where would be a more exciting place to get knees deep in the fresh powder than Kashmir, India?

Backcountry skiing isn’t without risks, so take the opportunity to brush up on your avalanche awareness skills with this full day introduction to avalanches in Boulder, Colorado!

People often associate winter sports with skiing and snowboarding, but most haven’t thought of Ice climbing. If you’ve never thrown an ice axe and a crampon into a sheer face of ice, now’s a great time to head to Chamonix, France and experience the rush yourself!

That’s it for our top winter things to do roundup. These four are only a handful of the great listings you’ll find on Ooh.com, so head to the site, have a browse and see if anything takes your fancy. Of course, if you want to sell a wintery trip, course or event, you can do that too, for free! Bonus…

A short time ago, the Ooh team recruited London RIB Voyages to the ranks listed on Ooh.com. We were childishly excited when they offered us the chance to experience a RIB Thames tour first hand.

A time was duly set and skipper Joe collected us from Cadogan pier, by Albert Bridge, before jetting us East to Southbank’s Millennium Wheel to collect 5 more intrepid RIB adventurers. Warm jackets and buoyancy aids fitted, we pulled off the millennium peer and motored West against the ebbing tide towards M16.

After a brief allusion to the famous James Bond scene where the boat launches from an M16 window into the river, Ben, our cheerful guide, turned to Joe and invited him to let us have it…

Joe pointed our RIB across the river at the landmark Aztec style building, only acknowledged by the government in 2004 as the home of its Secret Intelligence Service. Surreally, and totally unexpected, the classic Bond theme twanged into life over the RIB’s loudspeakers and we felt a surge of power through the giant twin Johnson 225 engines.

The bow rose out of the water and the hull crashed and skidded across the Thames as we charged towards the building. Next, Joe swung the RIB to the right, carving across the river in front of Vauxhall bridge and swooping back towards MI6 within 15 feet of the colossal bridge columns. With each turn, the sidewall of the RIB dug deep into the water, lifting the outside edge into the air like a twisting rollercoaster.

Laughs, screams and whoops faded with the Bond music and we straightened up to head East with the tide. The onward journey was an electric mix of unbelievable speed and illuminating details narrated by Ben, bringing the historic landscape to life as we passed.
After we’d nipped out of the busiest part of the Thames, beyond Tower Bridge, Joe took our speed up another notch, making use of the 400 horsepower to reach speeds of 35 knots.

As we cut from one side of the river to the other, past London’s financial centre in Canary Wharf, we experienced another highlight: the weightless sensation of the hull bursting clean out of the water as we popped off a wake.

The return upriver gave us the chance to gawk at all the sites again, with a few more snippets of London history thrown in. We were also given a great photo opportunity when Joe lined the boat up with Tower Bridge looming in the background.

Basically, whether you live in London, or you’re just visiting, you should book one of these tours. It’s a no brainer, because there is simply no other way to see so many of London’s landmarks, from such a unique perspective and at such electrifying speed. Thank you London RIB Voyages. We salute you!

Quite a while ago now, we brought you news of the fast-growing Parkour scene in London. The sport, which originated in Paris, has been growing rapidly in the last few years and we’ve recently discovered a pocket of extraordinary Parkour talent in Syndey, Australia.

Ali Kadhim, of Parkroar first became involved in Parkour after watching Ripley’s Believe It or Not TV show and seeing some footage of a group of Parkour originators called the Yamakasi.

‘After I watched it, it changed my life: I knew straight away that Parkour was something I had already been doing my whole life. As a kid I was a huge monkey – I could never sit still and was always climbing and jumping off everything.’

We asked Ali what his favourite thing about the sport is. ‘It combines the grace and movement of gymnastics, the discipline of martial arts, the creativity of breakdance and it opens our eyes to use the world as our playground like skateboarders. I’ve practiced all of those physical art forms and Parkour for me just seems like the ultimate art form to practise.’

Ali is pretty keen on pushing at the boundaries of what is and isn’t Parkour and this comes across in his videos. We asked him what his favourite moves are: ‘My favourite moves at the moment are combining flips into the environment, like wall-flips and front flips off things. A lot of people don’t think flips are a part of Parkour.’

‘But, one of the main philosophies behind Parkour is to learn to master your body and mind, so in order to master it you have to learn to conquer your fears and control them. For example jumping off something can be scary enough, but when you add a flip into the equation the fear magnifies and it really tests your mind and body control.’

We also asked Ali how quickly he thinks Parkour seems to be growing. He told us: ‘If I compared it to how it was when I first started I would say it’s huge. Its been growing rapidly here and there are so many groups around from places like the City, Penrith and Hornsby. We get new students almost every week to our weekly classes and more and more are becoming interested all the time.’

Finally, we wanted to know what it’s like rocking up at one of Parkroar’s locally famed classes for the first time. ‘We start off with a long warm-up and conditioning session. The conditioning consists of things like tuck-jumps, push-ups, sit-ups and squats to name a few.’

‘After that we go through basic movements, these are always important and are never to be overlooked by anyone, that’s why we do them every class. We then teach new techniques after the basics or help students to overcome any fears they might have with any new movements.’

You can find out more about Parkroar from their website www.parkroar.com, or you can email Ali here with questions.

Recession seems the worst time to do anything apart from lie on the floor, bash your hands and wail. But there are a few intrepid adventurers breaking the mould. Becca Grossman is one of these hadry few. She’s throwing in her job as an admin assistant and starting a new career as a yoga instructor in New York.

We asked Becca when she first got involved with yoga. ‘I first started a yoga practice when my mother suggested it might help severe joint pain I had been suffering from.’

I was extremely skeptical, having adopted the very Western idea that pills cure all ailments. I reluctantly walked into a basic Vinyasa class at OM in New York City, and was almost instantaneously transformed. There was so much energy and possibility for me in that room…I was hooked.’

Unable to touch our toes without spending at least half a day in a sauna, we were curious to know how long it takes to become a fully fledged flexibility ninja: ‘In many ways it’s taken me all 24 years of my life to become a yoga instructor. More specifically, though, I practiced for two years before enrolling in a ten-month teacher training at Yoga Synthesis in Ramsey, NJ.’

We asked Becca what benefits yoga can bring to recession-drained workers: ‘Yoga benefits practitioners in innumerable ways. There’s a physical benefit, though that is secondary or even tertiary to the mental and spiritual benefits of a consistent practice.’

‘The mind learns to focus, open, and explore the world with more curiosity & compassion. The spirit learns inexplicable, beautiful, terrifying things…’

We asked Becca what kind of yoga she would be teaching and how you can get involved: ‘The style of yoga I teach is called Ashtanga-Vinyasa; it’s an eclectic style that draws on alignment principles from the Iyengar method and incorporates breathing techniques, postures, sequencing and meditation practices from all over the yoga-verse.’

‘It can be rigorous or gentle, but maintains a sense of curiosity & mindfulness no matter what. Private sessions with me are 90 minutes, at a rate of $120 per session. Discounts are available for first-time clients, session packages, and semi-privates. I’ll also be teaching at studios in and around NYC.’

If you want to find out more about Becca’s Yoga practice, you can visit her website, www.beccafaithyoga.com or email her here.

Rebecca Schweiger is one of those rare people who makes you feel that anything is possible. She even makes me feel I could paint.

An internationally renowned contemporary painter, Rebecca’s own work has been displayed in over 50 galleries throughout the world. Of her work Rebecca says, ‘My artwork is a sensitive, intimate, and evocative reflection of this ongoing human journey towards spiritual and emotional evolution.’ Whether you are a believer in spiritual journeys or not, what is overwhelmingly obvious is that Rebecca is an enthusiastic, kind and sensitive person who loves to share her passion for art with others, and who believes that anyone can create and benefit from art, no matter what their ability.

Rebecca’s gallery and creative art school – The Art Studio NY – is based in Manhattan and is open for all ages and all levels. Rebecca and three other renowned artists offer regular courses throughout the year, and there’s certainly something for everyone. Acrylics, oils, watercolours, drawing, charcoal, pastels and mixed media are all covered. ‘Everyone can draw’, a weekly two hour course held on Mondays, should encourage even the most pencil-shy person to have a go; ‘Just 4 Kids’ on Tuesdays sounds messy and fun; ‘Paint your heart out’ on Thursdays sounds liberating, and ‘Creating the canvas of your life’ is intriguing.

Classes are for a maximum of 8 people. We think the classes sound brilliant, and Rebecca the sort of person you’d like to have as a best friend.

For more information about both Rebecca’s work and The Art Studio NY visit the her website.  www.rebeccarts.com

When you’re planning a wedding, there’s a hella lot to remember. Flowers? Check. Venue? Check. Speeches? Check. Drinks? Check. Spouse to be? Check. But there’s one thing you might not think of immediately: the first dance with your newly wedded husband or wife.

A quick survey of the ooh team suggests that we would be, at best, ill prepared for any kind of high profile dance situation involving multiple witnesses. But that’s where Jess Brichto at Start The Dance steps in.

We asked Jess where the idea to give couples-to-be dancing lessons came from: ‘My mother-in-law had been to many weddings where she’d agonised over watching couples step on each others’ toes and sway embarrassingly from side to side. As I was a dancer, I thought it would be a good idea to help brides and grooms shine on their big day.’

We wanted to know what kind of couples Jess deals with: ‘There are two types. The first is the “youtube” type – they want to perform and entertain their guests- they want some serious cheers and whoops. Their dance is most likely to include dips, twirls and even lifts!’

‘The other type couldn’t think of anything worse and merely want confidence. They want to know how to hold each other and move in a natural way to avoid that embarrassing shuffle!’

We asked Jess if there are any other dance classes she runs: ‘a team of us that work for Start The Dance and we cover all styles including Bollywood and Bellydance! We’ve had teachers in peoples’ homes to spruce up a dinner party, at hen parties, offices to add a bit of dazzle to a lunch break, schools and colleges.’

‘We’ve taught single people for a bit of extra confidence before an all important date and huge groups at events and festivals too.’

We wanted to know what people enjoy most about this, save knowing they won’t be horribly embarrassed on their wedding day by their rhythmical ineptitude. ‘People say that the lessons are enormous fun. Planning a wedding can be a huge pressure and dance lessons are often the best way to spend time together amidst the chaos to relax and have fun. At the end of all our classes you can tell that everyone has had a great time.’

We asked Jess if she had any good stories to share and she produced this gem: ‘For a corporate event I had taught a team of bosses to dance to ‘Hot stuff’ to amuse their employee’s. As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough the first time round, their staff made them do it all again at the end of the night!’ We’re hoping to nab Jess for the next ooh party…

We wanted to know how many couples Jess teches a year: ‘Around 1000. About a third of people who contact me are grooms and the other two thirds are brides. It’s the modern day – boys have to do their bit you know!’

So boys, drop Jess and email here or visit www.startthedance.co.uk to save yourself the shame of dancing like a chimp on that special day!

Ooh.com’s been busy lately, organizing the launch of the ooh.com site and a pretty cool comp to get you all thinking about what you’d most like to do in the world…

But the friendly blog team @emmadrew, @drbeanbagmd and @ejgthompson have not forgotten their raison d’être. That’s why we took time out to catch up with madman and paramotring guru, Alex Ledger.

Alex first got involved in this gravity defying sport towards the end of 2004 with his friend Giles Cardazo, the well-known owner of Parajet, one of the industry leading paramotoring equipment suppliers. Cardazo is less well known for his barmy, improbable but ingenious design of the Skycar. That’s a car, which a giant fan, and a giant parachute, which can fly for us lay folk.

“Since then I’ve been running SkySchool full time teaching people how to fly for the past 5 years. The thing I love most about the sport is the freedom it offers and it’s simplicity.”

We figured you’d probably want to know, realistically, how difficult it is to take to the skies a la James Bond: “The most challenging thing about learning to Paramotor is overcoming the weight of the motor while attempting to launch the wing in light winds. However, once one has developed the correct technique it becomes simple.”

Naturally we couldn’t help finding out if Alex had experienced any frightening moments during his time in the sky.

“My scariest moment when flying was when I misjudged the wind strength when I first started flying and ended up being dragged through a football pitch while they were playing a match, however this was also one of my most amusing moments as well!”

From the photos and the videos you can find of this relatively new sport, we think you’ll be tantalized into considering giving it a go. In a true triumph of administration, we anticipated your interest and asked Alex where you should go to give it a try. His top five locations were:

1. My top Paramotoring destination is Dorset, in particular around Milton Abbas, which is where I was brought up.

2. My second favourite location is North East Spain, from where I run the Spanish school – the landscape is so varied with the Pyrenees mountains and Costa Brava coastline.

3. My third is Southern France, near Toulouse, because of the rolling countryside and beautiful chateaus.

4. My forth is St Andre les Alps in the southern French Alps where the water is sapphire blue in the amazing gorges.

5. My fifth and final location is North Oxfordshire among the fantastic country houses and estates such a Blenheim Palace.

What to give this a try? Contact Alex here with questions or visit www.skyschooluk.com for more info on when and where to get started!

There’s making a walking stick out of a bit of old wood, and then there’s stick dressing…so I’m told. Steve Barrett is a show judge and award-winning stick dresser based on the Dorset/Somerset border. Over the years he has won awards in national and local stick dressing competitions and he’s only too happy to share this tradition with others who want to learn to make beautiful walking sticks.

I asked Steve to explain to me exactly what stick dressing is. “Stick dressing isn’t about making walking sticks, which is what people often think. It is in fact the old fashioned art of using Rams horn to fashion shepherds crooks, the all-important working tool to aid the shepherd. Stick making involves using materials such as wood or Antler, however in the case of wood in particular, this is useless for a working crook because of the weak points on the crown of the stick. For a really strong, long-lasting shepherds crook, Rams horn is what a stick dresser will use.”

Steve Barrett runs tailored courses that will teach participants the whole process of stick dressing: from selecting the right wood and the benefits of the different types, through to carving the top of your stick using a variety of methods and materials. At the end of the course you will have completed your very own stick, and have many of the skills needed to go on and make more.

Take part in a British tradition that goes back hundreds of years, and next time you go for a walk, stride out in style with a stick you’ve made yourself.

For more information about Steve Barrett and the courses he runs, or to buy one of Steve’s sticks online, visit his website at www.walkingandworkingsticks.co.uk

I’d like to introduce you to the little known curator of a rather unusual museum. Arm outstretched, hand gloved in white cotton, RJ stands pointing at a huge, pink, goofy-eyed graffiti monster scrawled on a concrete wall in the East End of London.

RJ runs guided tours around the East End, showing crowds the ever-shifting sprawl of urban art, illuminating torn posters and faded spray-can sketches with the names and stories of those responsible.

RJ’s museum is the city itself and his tours have lately gained noteriety: “I’ve only been involved with urban art for about a year and a half, but it’s become a passion that I spend way too much time on. Almost every Thursday I’m at one or more gallery openings, and on Saturdays I wander around looking for new work.”

‘It’s an extremely welcoming community. I recently spent a few days in New York City, and people who I only knew from their photography on flickr were touring me around and introducing me to artists and photographers.’

I ask RJ what he believes separates urban art from other forms of art. ‘In a purely academic sense, there really isn’t a difference. Most street artists resist that label and say that any work is just “art” once it is in a gallery.’

He continues: ‘On a more personal level, I think that any artist willing to give away their work for free and expose more people to art has a certain “x-factor” – that comes across in their artwork. Urban artists are painting for the love of it, and they are painting to give the public a chance to experience art without having to pay to wander confused around a museum.’

‘Swoon is a great example of this. She has exhibited at MoMA in New York, but she just can’t resist wheatpasting her work [pasting poster work on street furniture]. Right now, she’s in Slovenia building barely-float-able boats with about two dozen other artists, and they are going to sail them to Venice.”

On the flipside, I want to know how RJ distinguishes between vandalistic graffiti and genuine street art: ‘Some of it’s destructive. Almost all of it’s vandalism. That doesn’t mean it can’t also be art. I think a lot of graffiti writers are so good that they become accidental artists, and there are also plenty of street artists who are so bad that they become accidental graffiti writers. In the end it’s a personal call by the viewer.’

I ask RJ to tell us a bit more about the tour itself: ‘The tour changes a bit every time I do it. Even if I did the same route two days in a row, it would be different – work just changes so quickly. A few really impressive pieces that will definitely be included though are 2 works by Banksy, some wheatpastes by Shepard Fairey (the artist who made the Obama “HOPE” poster), a lot by the Burning Candy guys, and a large piece by Conor Harrington, pictured above. It usually lasts between 1.5 to 2 hours.’

I ask RJ what he believes to be the single most significant piece of street art in London: ‘Not including commissioned works like what was painted on the side of the Tate Modern last summer, I’d have to say a tiny piece by Barry McGee. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s surprisingly important. Back in the early 1990’s, McGee pretty much founded San Francisco’s street art scene.’

‘One evening after sunset, I was headed back home from an afternoon of looking at street art. Then I spotted quite an old piece I’d never seen before by Anthony Lister. Next to the Lister piece was one by McGee. It’s the only piece I’ve seen by McGee on the street, and perhaps even the only one left in the UK.’

Surprising me, RJ reveals the amazingly transitory nature of the work he has come to curate: ‘I’m told the McGee piece dates back to 2005. Unfortunately, I stopped by the other day, and the paint has really started to peel just in the last month.’

If the thought of missing out on these snapshots of city life chills you to the bone, drop RJ an email here and grab yourself a guided tour.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a proper water baby. I love swimming and I go surfing whenever I can. I’ve also tried kayaking, but not on the sea. So in the spirit of open-mindedness I decided to find out what it’s all about.

Seth Dent, of St Mary’s Georgia, started kayaking in the Fall of 2004 and has since become a qualified instructor and guide: ‘I began reading books about kayaking and took classes at the East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival.’

We asked Seth what it is he loves so much about the sport and he wasn’t short of reasons. ‘You can go anywhere in a kayak, places that powerboats and sailboats are not able to go: with the proper training, you can go wherever the sea will let you …you’re only limited by yourself.’

‘Kayaking creates interests in things that may not have been interesting to you before. Before I started, I had no desire to learn how to read nautical charts, tie a variety of knots, or put together meal plans for multi-day expeditions… Kayaking is good for you. It’s very good exercise that strengthens your core, but most importantly, it’s fun.’

We asked Seth for suggestions about the best places to go Kayaking and he suggested these amazing destinations:

‘The Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail, the longest sea kayaking trail in the US, is one of the best paddling destinations on the East Coast. Since Florida’s coastline is distributed between the Atlantic Ocean & the Gulf of Mexico, the paddling opportunities are quite varied.’

‘Cumberland Island National Seashore is truly a gem of the Georgia coast. Cumberland Island is consistently rated as one of the best wilderness beaches in the US. The combination of salt marsh and ocean paddling makes it a fun place to camp and explore.’

‘The St. Johns River in Florida offers dozens of water-accessible campsites on public land that’s free to use. Most often when people think of sea kayaking, they think of paddling on the open ocean, but there are many inland waterways that can challenge even the most experienced sea kayakers. In December of 2008 I paddled the St. Johns from its headwaters to the Atlantic Ocean with my paddling partner, Keith Legette. Our expedition marked the first time that such a trip had ever been done!’

‘Washington’s San Juan Islands display the true beauty of the Pacific Northwest’s coast. State ferries provide transportation to several of them, but a sea kayak is the best way to experience these beautiful islands. With limitless opportunities for camping, the San Juan Islands should be on every paddler’s to-do list.’

‘There is no better place to sea kayak than its birthplace: Greenland. There are more reasons than I could possibly list, but suffice it to say that every paddler that makes the trip to Greenland returns home with a new appreciation for those that depend upon the kayak to live.’

‘The beauty of kayaking is that it only takes 5-10 minutes to learn the basics. When guiding trips I frequently encounter people that have never been in a kayak. After a short instructional orientation, beginning paddlers are ready to tackle calm, protected waters.’

‘I’m based in St. Marys and provide guided kayak trips and lessons to Cumberland Island National Seashore, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the St. Marys River and many more destinations. There are different trips for a range of skill levels that will satisfy even the most adventurous souls. I offer a Beginners Course, an Advanced Course and a Safety & Rescue course, each costing $60’.

You can contact Seth by emailing him here, or visit his website which is here.