Dog and reindeer sledding can be wild and addictive.

If you want a more gentle ride, then let an experienced handler take the reins.

But if you want an adventure into the unknown, take charge yourself!

Reindeer (and there is normally only one pulling a sled) are rather unpredictable and what can start as a gentle stroll can easily turn into a venison version of the Grand National.

Dogs are perhaps easier to handle but it's no still mean feat getting your message across to the 16 race-trained canine chargers.

Where: Mainly Scandinavia but also France, Canada and America.

Tobogganing has been around for many years and is still a popular activity among children and adults.

Plastic trays or traditional wooden toboggans are hauled up slopes and then let go with either one or two participants in them.

Some Austrian resorts, including Kitzbuhel and St Anton, have proper tracks but most are runs on ski slopes.

The most famous track is the Cresta run in St Moritz in Switzerland - but this form of tobogganing is more like skeleton bob.

Here you lie on your stomach and hurtle head first down the run, reaching speeds of 80mph.

Again, check you have sufficient winter sports insurance!

Where: The Cresta Run, St Moritz, Switzerland. Tobogganing - everywhere in Europe, Canada and America and Milton Keynes Snozone.

Snowmobiling is a handy way of seeing other parts of the slopes, often at night.

But if you like the thrill of careering down a slope totally out of control, then biking is for you.

Snowbiking is great fun

Basically a humble mountain bike is transformed for the slopes by replacing the wheels with a snowboard or ski.

Not one for the faint-hearted but thoroughly exhilarating!

Where: Most French resorts, including Avoriaz, Les Arcs and Pra Loup and Nagano in Japan.

A 21st Century version of traditional tobogganing, and probably safer too.

Huge inner tyres are dragged up slopes, and then released down the slopes into a banked wall of snow at the bottom.

Tubing is better at night and a memorable experience.

The tubes spin around and you can easily get bumped off, looking like a rag doll into the bargain, but it is a whole lot of fun.

Where: Popular in Austria (Mayrhofen), France (La Plagne), Andorra and North America.

This is a new sport and only made its debut in 2000 in Verbier in Switzerland.

But it has now invaded other Swiss resorts and crossed the border into France and Austria too.

There is no motor - just pedal power - and the cars are similar to go-karts, but mounted on ski runners with a steel claw brake to control speed.

It is highly addictive for adults but not suitable for children and is also rather expensive.

Where : Grindelwald, Gstaad and Verbier in Switzerland, Chamonix in France and Seefeld in Austria.