Ice-skating is only one of many opportunities for winter activities.

Local winter fun can chase that cabin fever away

By Kit Vladmirov

Got the winter blues? Depressed because the White Nights are still months away? Fear not, for there are still many opportunities left for fun in the frozen north before the elusive spring comes again.

UNDERWATER MANOEVERS

The extraordinary antics of the "walruses" at the Peter and Paul Fortress are among the highlights of the city's winter sports calendar.

The intrepid swimmers who have dubbed themselves the "morzhi" (walruses) gather on the snow-covered beach every Sunday to sample the dubious pleasures of the freezing waters.

The sport is also practised at Ozerki and in a tiny lake at the junction of Svetlanovsky Prospect and Ulitsa Jacques Duclos.

But, if diving through holes in the ice isn't your cup of tea, then don't miss out on the host of other sporting activities on offer during the winter months.

STRAP ON THE SKATES

If you can get hold of a suitable pair of skates, take advantage of the free ice-skating on offer at the Krasnaya Zarya rink after 6pm every day.

You'll find the stadium on Lesnoy Prospect between the Vyborgskaya and Ploshchad Lenina Metro stations.

"Family ice-skating trips have really become a thing of the past," mourns Nikolai Ambrosiyev, an attendant at the city's VLKSM Park.

"In Soviet times, you could head for the nearest ice rink, rent a pair of skates and have a great time, skating to the strains of good Soviet music," he remembers.

However, the relatively mild winters of the last five or six years have proved a disappointment for many ice-skating fans and a disaster for state parks providing skating facilities.

Today, the Moskovsky Park Pobedy (at the Park Pobedy Metro station) is the only place where you can hire skates -- at a rate of 2,000 roubles an hour (you'll need to hand over some ID and a 50,000-rouble deposit).

Aside from the numerous ice-hockey rinks located in the city suburbs, there are three other large parks where you can skate for free if you have your own equipment.

These are the VLKSM Park (10 minutes' walk from the Narvskaya Metro station), the Central Recreation Park and the Udelny Park (Udelnaya Metro station).

INDOOR WATER-SKIING?

If you're into water sports, there's no need to hibernate during the winter months: the Olympic-sized swimming pool on Krestovsky Island offers a wide range of facilities, including, unbelievably, water-skiing.

The 25,000-rouble ticket entitles you to a 45-minute workout in the weight room.

For further information, contact Vadim Zhukov, the pool manager at 235 3004 or just make your way to the swimming pool on Krestovsky Island, 19 Konstantinovsky Prospect (the second to last stop for trams #12, 17, 26).

The complex also includes a fitness center featuring saunas, showers, a massage parlor and a solarium. Call 235 6807 for more details.

BOWLING KEEPS YOU WARM

Another indoor activity is kegelban (bowling). There are two alleys at the Kirovsky Stadium which also houses a special bar where players can relax in between games.

For further details, ring organizer Dmitri Konstantinovich at 235-51-69.

SKIING

Skiing has always been a popular hobby in Russia -- one can always find someone heading somewhere with a pair of skis carefully wrapped in brown paper.

Not only that, it's a great workout.

The best venue for downhill and cross-country skiing is Kavgolovo, where the pistes are open until early April.

To get to the village itself, which is dominated by a massive ski-jump (Bolshoy Trampolin), take bus #449 from the Akademicheskaya Metro station or a suburban train from Devyatkino to Toskovo.

The jump is three bus-stops from the railway station.