7 unusual outdoor events, from the offbeat to the awe-inspiring

National Geographic

3 days ago

We've been hearing a lot in recent years about how awe is good for our mental and physical health. Finding awe in adventure can be as simple as watching others do something incredible or trying it ourselves. Research suggests a viral, contagious component to wondrous encounters, enhanced when we share them with others—not on social media, but as an actual experience.
Awe can be triggered by art, nature, people, or acts of mind-blowing skill or risk. Like from skiing down a snow-covered hill before skimming across a pond of cold water, or from watching a group of people in a mid-winter, plunge into the frigid Atlantic Ocean.
(When is the right time to start a new habit—and actually keep it?) Keystone's Springtastic Pond Skim Pond skimming participants attempt to make it all the way across the pond on skis or a snowboard without falling in the water. Photograph by Marek Pelikan, Shutterstock
When: Final weekend of the ski season, varies by resort
Where: Ski resorts throughout North America
A perennial favorite on the last day of the season, skiers and boarders pretty much walk on water, in a scene dripping with costumed revelers. Keystone Resort also hosts one of the country's only kid pond skims. Vermont's Sugarbush claims the longest skim (120 feet), and Sunshine Village in Banff says it's where the tradition first started in 1928. 17th Street High Heel Race
When: Tuesday before Halloween
Where: 17th and P streets, Northwest, Washington, D.C.
This annual event in a Washington, D.C. neighborhood is exactly what it sounds like—a high heeled sprint. Down Dupont Circle's historical 17th Street, the race started in 1986 as a friendly wager between friends dressed in drag running from one gay bar to the next and grew into the only government-sponsored event of its kind in the country. The goal of the 15-minute race, according to organizers, is to unite the community. While many participants wear full drag, only high heels are required.
(10 unmissable LGBTQ+ events in Latin America) Valdez Ice Fest
Where: Keystone Canyon, Valdez, Alaska
When: Friday, February 20, 2026
In Alaska's Keystone Canyon, ripe with seemingly never ending ice cliffs, organizers call this part of Valdez a frozen playground. In the heart of Alaskan wilderness, the climbing competition, founded in 1983, is held on vertical pillars of ice and cascading frozen waterfalls. While it offers technical challenges, with so many different ice formations, organizers say climbers of all skill levels can find routes that work for them. For newbies, there are clinics during the event. National Clustered Spires High Wheel Race
When: Second Saturday in July
Where: Frederick, Maryland The National Clustered Spires High Wheel Race includes the main race, a slow race, and a low-wheel race. Photograph by Anadolu, Getty Images
The National Clustered Spires High Wheel Race is a .4-mile race atop an antique or present-day high wheel. The bike, invented in the 1880s, has a huge front wheel and tiny back wheel and is also known as the penny farthing. With a seat that can be nearly five feet off the ground, competitors take corners at a shockingly high speed. An intermission includes a low wheel race—think adults on a tiny little kid bikes. Polar Bear Plunge
When: New Year's Day
Where: Coney Island, New York, and throughout the world
A New Year's Day tradition all around the world, the U.S. version of the Polar Bear Plunge started in 1903 in Coney Island, New York. Hosted by the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the annual plunge is a run-and-dive-into-frigid-water event. The group also plunges weekly in the winter. Eleven years after first spying the plungers, Ellen Weinberg, 64, now a regular, plunged for the first time. 'Holding my hands, not pulling but supporting, we walked in together. They kept telling me to just breathe and take my time,' says Weinberg. 'I felt a deep bond in this experience of the joy of plunging together. I was hooked.'
(10 of the best annual coastal festivals and events from around the world) Bridge Day
When: Third Saturday in October
Where: New River Gorge Bridge, Fayetteville, West Virginia For those new to BASE jumping, Bridge Day also offers a jump for first-timers and tandem jumps. Photograph by Cavan Images, Alamy Stock Photo
A celebration of extreme sports, Bridge Day's BASE jump is touted as the oldest and largest organized BASE jumping event in the world. Thousands show up to watch jumpers leap off the 876-foot New River Gorge Bridge and into the gorge below spinning and flipping before pulling their shoots and gliding to solid ground. Headed into its 45th year, the event has grown to about 400 jumpers, 100 newcomers among them. For those thinking about it, there's a 'density of BASE advice' at the top as well as a first-timer jump course, say the organizers. For those not quite ready to go it alone, there's a tandem jump. Celebrate Trails Day
When: Fourth Saturday in April
Where: All over the U.S.
To celebrate an entire network of former railways converted into biking and walking trails, The Great American Rail-Trail hosts Celebrate Trails Day, one day of nearly 300 events inviting indiscriminate participation — young and old, cyclist or not. Generating a total of 3.4 million minutes of physical activity, the event organizers say it encourages people to add activity into their lives. Rails to Trails Conservancy is connecting thousands of miles of existing multi-use trails in the country to create one trail, from Washington, D.C. to Washington state. Other annual events
If you're looking for something a bit more outlandish, there are also races that involve outhouses, coffins, and bathtubs. The 'Idiotarod' in New York City is an unsanctioned Iditarod-inspired shopping cart race (with no dogs). For those wanting to put more brain into it, the Hamptons Who Dunit is ripe with crime-scene solving reenactments. Cari Shane is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance journalist whose work appears in a variety of publications, including AARP, Scientific American, Smithsonian, Fast Company and USA Today/Gannett.