Bad weather tips for active people

Swimming trunks instead of a winter jumper. The RheinRiff in Düsseldorf is the perfect place to simply extend the summer. The world's largest indoor surfing hall has temperatures like August all year round. Surf pros push themselves to the limit with maximum power in the big wave sessions. But newcomers who are standing on a surfboard for the first time can also quickly celebrate their first successes on the nine-metre-wide Citywave Düsseldorf, which they can then celebrate with a cool drink in the beach club. Four indoor beach volleyball courts and a surf skate course under palm trees also provide a touch of Rio on the Rhine. An exuberant atmosphere is guaranteed at the RheinRiff Games, a beach Olympics which, like the winter curling challenge, can be booked individually as an incentive or as a team event. In the evening, the sports, conference and event location transforms into a party mile. Among other things, the electro scene has been meeting regularly in the gravel pit for years, there are neighbourhood festivals and the palm market as well as private parties with completely new party formats.

Higher, faster, further. The German Sport & Olympia Museum is located directly on the Rhine, in a historic customs and warehouse building in Cologne. As well as providing visitors with exciting insights into the 2,500-year history of sport between antiquity and the present day, it also offers them the opportunity to get active themselves. In the centre of the exhibition, which includes autographed boxing gloves from Muhammad Ali and a Formula 1 car driven by Michael Schumacher, you can try your hand at the ancient long jump with jumping weights or the goal wall. Even "gymnastics father" Jahn demonstrates some exercises, and on a racing bike in the in-house wind tunnel, everyone soon feels as if they have just completed a stage of the Tour de France. Finally, the sporting visit continues on Cologne's highest sports and playground. The view over the Rheinau harbour is of course included in the little kick on the roof of the building.

The innovative golf experience facility in Oberhausen is the first of its kind in Europe. The three-storey driving range with around 100 bays for up to six people each and a 220 metre-long target area offers golfers who don't want to miss out on practice, even in the winter months, optimum training conditions to get the new season off to a good start. But the focus is not just on sport. With games such as TopShot or Quick9, even newcomers can enjoy playing with the little white ball, driver, irons and putter. Whether it's a hen party, milestone birthday or company event, the spacious course in the Ruhr region offers space for a gaming experience, party atmosphere and team workshops. On Wednesdays, the girls call the shots on the range, on Thursdays pupils and students play for half price and families benefit threefold on certain days. Sports broadcasts, including the NFL, live music and DJ events on the roof terrace round off the Topgolf programme. And if the golf world here is too small for you, you can choose your favourite course around the world in the Virtual Courses and play a round on the Old Course in St. Andrews or travel to Pebble Beach in your mind.

Diving in an industrial monument. The Gasometer diving area in the Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park is the largest indoor diving and training centre in Europe. Both beginners and budding diving instructors can descend to depths of up to 13 metres here. Anyone who has never experienced weightlessness under water before may discover a new passion during a taster dive with an experienced instructor. And if you already have experience in putting on a diving tank, breathing mask, fins and wetsuit as well as a diving licence, you are also welcome to glide alone into the 21 million litre freshwater pool in the gasometer of the former industrial plant at weekends and on announced days. Once at the "bottom of the sea", a few surprises await. For example, a shipwreck and an aeroplane wreck as well as an artificial reef and several scrap cars. An old yellow letterbox and a cow are also rumoured to have been spotted in the depths of the basin.

With God's blessing. The former parish church of St Peter in the Waldhausen district of Mönchengladbach is Germany's first climbing church. Both ambitious climbers and beginners will find the right challenge on the walls of the former church nave, which are up to 13 metres high. The beginner, fun and extreme areas offer different gradients and levels of difficulty. However, anyone who wants to climb the church walls in Mönchengladbach should be free from giddiness. Otherwise, everyone can just watch the others. Of course, "safety first" always applies at this unusual climbing location, which is why experienced instructors provide a safety briefing before the climbing session, especially for courses for beginners. Incidentally, visitors have the best view from the 180 square metre gallery. The boulder there offers numerous training opportunities of various kinds. "The adventure over the plank" provides a special thrill. In the pendulum jump, climbers swing from an eight metre high plank on a rope across the former nave. Once the test of courage is over, they swing gently until they have solid ground under their feet again.

Check in and take off. The glazed high-tech wind tunnel at Indoor Skydiving Bottrop is one of the most modern in the world and literally gives you wings. Just like a real parachute jump, the steady airflow of up to 280 kilometres per hour also gets the adrenaline pumping when bodyflying in the simulator. But without having to get into the aeroplane first. The free fall in the chamber of the wind tunnel, which at 17 metres is the highest in Europe, lasts around one minute, which is roughly equivalent to a parachute jump from a height of 4,000 metres. Experienced skydivers therefore regularly use the indoor facility for "training jumps". However, children from the age of four can learn to fly in Bottrop under expert guidance. Indoor skydiving also has special offers for people with physical disabilities. It is also ideal for group events, family outings, birthday parties or team-building measures with a special experience character. Because the wind tunnel is glazed, the spectators usually have just as much fun as the person taking off.

Right next to the skydiving hall - on a former mountain dump in the Ruhr area - is the Bottrop Alpine Centre, which is open all year round in winter. After taking the conveyor belt up to the mountain station, experienced skiers can plunge straight into the fun on the world's longest indoor ski slope at 460 metres. For those first turns in the snow, there is a beginners' slope with a rope lift as well as ski and snowboard courses for children and adults.

Off to the piste. If your next skiing holiday is still a long way off, Alpenpark Neuss is an excellent alternative. In the middle of the Lower Rhine lowlands, Germany's first and the world's largest indoor ski centre offers everything you need for a successful descent on two skis: Sub-zero temperatures, powder snow, toboggan runs and a 300 metre long, steep slope on which numerous ski clubs and national teams regularly train. There is a separate, less steep slope for beginners and children. Everyone then travels to the "mountain station" together on the four-seater chairlift. Newcomers can learn the right technique at the in-house ski school. Of course, the necessary refreshments are also provided: depending on the season, a summit or alpine buffet is part of the group fun with friends, family or colleagues. The adjoining "Fire & Ice" conference hotel also organises wintery supporting programmes for business events, including curling, laser shooting and ski biking.

A short holiday on the beach in the middle of Witten. At the blue:beach indoor beach sports centre, nobody is guaranteed to get cold feet, even in winter. The sand on the five large beach courts in the hall, where beach volleyball and beach soccer as well as badminton, beach handball, frisbee and spikeball can be played all year round, is heated. For all those who want to improve their skills at the net, training courses and a weekend camp will be offered again for the first time in 2025. The reward after the sweat-inducing sport awaits afterwards in the beach bar, the beach tower, the beach hut or in the Surfers Lounge with a delicious cocktail. So there's a beach feeling under the roof too - whether it's with your mates after work, at a hen party with the girls or at a company event with colleagues. Because the blue:beach is not just a place to work out, but also to party - and sometimes even work during study time. Then the beach bar becomes perhaps the most beautiful co-working space in the Ruhr region.