CENTRAL PARK — As Central Park transforms into a winter wonderland for this year's Winter Jam sports festival, snowboarders, skiers, and snowshoers will also have the chance to score an ace on the ice in a new activity called "arctic golf."
Like mini-golf, arctic golf takes players through a set of 10- to 12-foot putting greens, except these will have 7-foot ice sculptures to play through, according to the city's Parks Department.
There will be three holes and sculptures in all, featuring frozen models of the Empire State Building, the NYC Parks logo, and an evergreen tree.
Other activities include the festival's usual snowshoeing, snowboarding and skiing lessons on 2 acres of snow-covered ground. There will also be live entertainment by Ray King the Bucket Drummer and Industrial Rhythm, among others.
For a break from the cold, there will be a warming hut with a market of free samples and food trucks nearby.
The free festival on Jan. 28, begins at 11 a.m. at the park's bandshell at East 72nd Street and runs until 3 p.m.
Last year's Winter Jam was ironically canceled by a blizzard that dumped two feet of snow on the city, and there wasn't a day to make up for it.
The same is true for this year. There is no makeup day for the event in the case of a blizzard, but the Parks Department is mainly concerned about creating the snow.
The week of the festival, staffers from ski resort company Gore Mountain use snow guns to create man-made snow with water and compressed air. A little more than a foot is expected to fall from the guns if the temperature is right.
"We need the temperature to drop below 28 degrees to blow snow," said Crystal Howard, a spokeswoman for the Parks Department. "With the weather forecast trending warmer in the coming weeks, our main weather focus is whether we will be able to create snow for the activities."
