Setting foot outside your home in the middle of a Minnesota winter might make you want to run back indoors and hibernate until it warms up.

But there’s a group of people who don’t hide from the wind — instead, they look for it. They wait for a fresh blanket of snow or hard freeze to thicken the ice on a lake so they can safely venture on to it.

There are people who enjoy winter, and Minnesota has a lot to offer them. MPR News guest host Dan Kraker talks about why you might want to plan an outdoor excursion during the coldest months of the year.  

We’ll learn about the outdoor activities that have a short window of opportunity, limited to just six weeks out the year for winter conditions to be just right.

MPR News reporters share their stories from Winter Play — a series exploring how Minnesotans play outside during winter. 

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  Winter Play! Ice climbing, dogsledding and fat tire biking
  
  

Guests: 

• Randy Carlson is a snow kiting co-coordinator at the University of Minnesota Duluth recreational sports outdoor program. 




• Claire Wilson is the executive director for The Loppet Foundation in Minneapolis.




• Kirsti Marohn is a correspondent in MPR News' Collegeville bureau.




• Regina Medina is an MPR News correspondent for the race, class and communities team.




• Amy Felegy is an associate digital producer and reporter in MPR News’ Moorhead bureau.

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.