Cold Hard Nerd Culture
Less Common Winter Exercise
Non-Christmas Winter Songs
(Ant)arctic Exploration
(Ant)arctic Biology
100
Near the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which animals take in the four kids to protect them from the cold?
They’re beavers.
100
Video Question: What short-lived Olympic sport, first trialed at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, is pictured here?
This sport was called ski ballet or le ski artistique.
100
This regretful post breakup song from the album Speak Now is about wishing to go back and change mistakes made.
Back to December
100
The names of the Arctic and Antarctica originally from the Greek word meaning this animal. The Arctic has this animal, and the Antarctic doesn’t!
Bear (Polar Bear), the Greek word is Arktos.
100
There are many species of mammals that can be found in Antarctica, this is the largest of them.
Blue Whale
200
(100 each x 2) What is the name of the monster that mauls Luke Skywalker in the opening of The Empire Strikes Back and on what planet does this sequence take place?
It’s a Wampa and the attack is on Hoth.
200
(100 each x 2) What is this piece of equipment for and for what sport is it designed?
This style of helmet cage is used for ringette.
200
Frank Sinatra’s most popular Christmas song, which you can hear here, doesn’t actually mention Christmas. Name the song.
Winter Wonderland
200
While you may associate this novel with Halloween, it actually starts and ends in the North Pole. The title character is seen driving his dog sled across the ice in his attempts to finish his mission.
Frankenstein
200
This is the largest extant species of penguin.
Emperor penguins are the largest living species of penguin.
300
(100 each x 3) What is the career of the Overwatch character Mei, pictured here, where is she from, and where was she posted for work?
She is a Climatologist originally from Taiwan, and her post was in Antarctica.
300
Video Question: What is the name of this sport, popularized by Red Bull’s extreme sports sponsorships?
Crashed ice (former name) or ice cross [downhill] (current name).
300
Forget “Let It Go” this song about self acceptance and self discovery in Frozen 2 is sung by Elsa as she moves through a frozen cavern near the end of the movie.
Show Yourself
300
In this chilling movie, a group of researchers in Antarctica encounters a parasitic life form.
The Thing
300
Despite the large variety of biodiversity in Antarctica, there are only two living native species of this kind of plant.
Flowering Plants
400
What is the real name of the member of the X-Men who goes by the alias Iceman?
His real name is (Robert) Bobby Drake
400
Audio Question: What winter physical activity produces this sound and under what conditions?
Skating on thin ice produces these sounds.
400
(200 for song, 200 for artist) This song was written during a frigid winter in New York City. The artists felt like it would be warm and safe if they were in LA instead, which helped inspire this 1985 song.
California Dreamin by The Mamas & The Papas
400
Based on the lost Franklin expeditions and his two ships in 1845, more than 120 men vanished during their search for the Northwest Passage. This TV show is based off of that expedition. 200 for the show name, and 100 points for each ship name.
The Terror. The HMS Erebus & HMS Terror
400
You’d be forgiven for thinking this awkward looking flightless bird was a penguin, but it lived in the northern hemisphere and evolved separately from penguins. In any case, humans hunted them to extinction in the 19th century.
Great auk
500
In the video game Horizon: Zero Dawn, what tribe inhabits the Frozen Wilds?
The tribe is called the Banuk.
500
Video Question: What sport, dominated by Russia and Sweden, is pictured here? (Note: we’re looking for the name that’s been used for the last 50+ years, not a name that’s fallen out of favour.)
This sport is called bandy.
500
This song was originally written and released in 1968 by a popular duo, before being covered by The Bangles for the movie Less Than Zero, then later Stranger Things. Name the title and original artist (250 points each).
A Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon & Garfunkel
500
The Northwest Passage was finally navigated by this adventurer and his ship in 1903-06. Points for either the name of the adventurer or his ship. 100 bonus points for getting both.
Roald Amundsen, and Gjøa
500
Which animal goes on the longest migration known to science?
The Arctic tern, which performs a roughly 30,000 km round trip each year from one pole to the other. (Recent GPS tracking suggests they actually cover more like 70,000 km because they zigzag.)