美国的冬季运动
If you like sport， the American winter is a good time for you.
Winter sports are popular in North America. In winter time， a large part of the land is covered1 in snow. This lasts for up to four months.
Only two parts of the USA are warm in winter. One is the coasts2， especially3Florida and southern California. One is the southern part of the Mississippi.
Everywhere else it gets cold， often very cold. By the end of November， manyAmerican states are often covered in snow. Recent winters are not so cold. But sportin winter usually means snow sports， or indoor4 sports.
By January， many places in North America will be very cold. The temperatures5 are -30C. Sure， not every day is so cold， but such low temperaturesare usual. In Chicago and Minneapolis， the temperature can be as low as -40.
When it is very cold， people usually don’t want to go outside. Sometimes there is a cold wind. That is worse. But on sunny winter days， winter sports are popular.
In the middle of North America， the most popular winter sports are snowmobiling6， snow-shoeing7 and cross-country skiing. Ice-skating8 is popular，too. Lakes and rivers freeze9， and many towns and cities have open-air skatingrinks10. They are free to use. In many places， there are lights after dark. So peoplecan enjoy skating in the evening.
However， for many people， real “winter sports”means downhill skiing11. Inthe USA， there are two main areas for downhill skiing： the Adirondack Mountains inthe North East， and the Rockies in the West.
The Rockies may be the best place in the world for skiing. North America hasa “continental12”climate13. It means dry and cold winters. So the snow here isusually very dry and powdery14. It is good for skiing. So North America has somemost famous skiing resorts15. They are mostly as high as over 2，000 metres.
如果你喜欢运动，美国的冬天对你来说是个好时节。
冬季运动在北美地区很受欢迎。在冬季，大部分土地被雪覆盖。这会持续长达四个月。
美国只有两个地区冬季气温温和。一个是海岸地区，尤其是佛罗里达和南加州。一个是密西西比南部。
其余地方都变得寒冷，通常是严寒，到11 月底，美国许多州经常被雪覆盖。近几年的冬天没有那么冷。但冬季运动通常是指雪上运动或室内运动。
到一月份，北美的许多地方会非常寒冷，温度为零下30℃。当然，不是每一天都这么冷。但这样的低温很常见。在芝加哥和明尼阿波利斯，温度可低至零下40℃。
当天气很冷时，人们通常不想出门。有时会刮起冷风，那更糟。但在阳光明媚的冬日，冬季运动很受欢迎。
在北美中部，最受欢迎的冬季运动是雪地摩托、雪鞋徒步和越野滑雪。溜冰也很受欢迎。湖泊和河流都结冰了，许多城镇开设了露天溜冰场，它们是免费使用的。在许多地方，天黑后都有灯光照明。因此，人们可以在晚上享受滑冰的乐趣。
然而，对于许多人来说，真正的“冬季运动”是指高山滑雪。在美国，有两个主要的高山滑雪地区：东北部的阿迪朗达克山脉和西部的落基山脉。
落基山脉可能是世界上最好的滑雪胜地。北美洲属于“大陆性”气候，这意味着冬天干燥又寒冷。所以这里的雪通常非常干燥，犹如干粉。这种雪很适合滑雪。因此，北美有几处最著名的滑雪胜地。它们大多海拔高达2000 米以上。
The best resorts are in Colorado and Utah. There， the air is usuallybeautifully clear in the winter time. Colorado has the most famous skiingresorts in America. They are Vail and Aspen. The stars and the rich go therein their winter holidays. But Utah is just as good as them. It has many great slopes16 for skiing.
There is one big difference between American ski resorts and most Alpineresorts in Europe. That is the traffic17！
For most Americans， people have to fly to ski resorts. It is because mostAmerican cities are far from the Rockies. Americans have short holidays， sothey cannot drive to the Rockies. Driving takes several days.
However， if you live in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities， you live near the resorts. You can drive to ski resorts. It just takes a few hours.
American ski resorts help visitors who come by plane. When visitorsarrive， they can take buses. Lots of ski resorts have free buses. They are fromthe nearest airports18. In some places， there are free buses between the hotelsand the slopes.
Then， people do not drive for hours to the slopes. It is so slow. And the air is not polluted19.
The environment20 there is not going to become worse. The environment in America’s mountains is very important. People should not pollute it.
最好的度假胜地在科罗拉多州和犹他州。那里冬天的空气通常非常清新。科罗拉多州拥有美国最著名的滑雪胜地。它们是韦尔和阿斯彭。明星和富人在冬季假期时会去那里。犹他州的和它们一样好。那儿有许多很棒的滑雪斜坡。
美国滑雪胜地和欧洲的大多数阿尔卑斯山滑雪胜地之间有一个很大的不同点。那就是交通！
对于大多数美国人来说，人们必须坐飞机去滑雪胜地。这是因为大多数美国城市都离落基山脉很远。美国人的假期很短，所以他们不能开车去落基山脉，开车需要几天时间。
但是，如果你住在洛杉矶和其他西海岸城市，那离滑雪胜地就很近了。你可以开车前往，只需要几个小时。
美国滑雪胜地为乘飞机前来的游客提供帮助。当游客到达时，他们可以乘坐公共汽车。许多滑雪胜地都有免费公交，它们会从最近的机场出发。在其中一些地方，酒店和滑雪坡之间也有免费公交。
这样，人们就不会开几个小时的车到滑雪坡。那太慢了。而且空气也不会被污染。
当地的环境不会变得更糟。美国山区的环境非常重要，人们不应该污染它。