Step away from the snow shovel. Put down the ice scraper. Winter can actually be fun, people, not a season-long suffer-fest of cold and complaining. So we've compiled a list of some of North America's best cities and towns where "snow" isn't a four-letter word.
Quebec City, QuebecPerhaps no city in North America loves winter more than Quebec City. And it should: temps here can plummet to minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit in January. All the better for making sure the Ice Hotel, a modern-day igloo open until March 29, doesn't melt. The world's largest winter carnival or Le Carnaval heats up Quebec City from Jan. 30 to Feb. 15. Think frozen canoe races, snow-sculpture contests, dogsled racing, night parades and tipples of caribou (brandy, vodka, sherry and port) to keep the grown-ups warm. Most people would need a whole lot of caribou to try out Quebec City's new winter pastime of "crashed ice" in which four-person teams fly down an icy chute. On skates. On Jan. 24, women will compete for the first time in the event.
MSN Travel Guide for Quebec City
Aspen, Colo.True, the glittery image of Aspen doesn't exactly fit with an economy in the muck. But one of the best ways to vent 401(k) angst is to hit the ski slopes, and Aspen has four different mountains from which to choose: Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, Aspen Mountain and Buttermilk. Plus, when the X Games steamroll through here Jan. 22-25 -- displaying acrobatic feats on skis, snowboards and snowmobiles -- the town will make even the fussiest of Florida snowbirds love winter. Off-mountain, Aspenites celebrate the snow-season with the January Wintersköl festival of art, soup-contests and dog fashion-shows; the Aspen Music Festival, meanwhile, regularly showcases top performers. Finally, the recession makes it more likely to get a deal (or at least a room) at such legendary ski lodges as The Little Nell and The St. Regis Aspen.
