Norridge, IL Outdoor Activities

NAC Ski may be based in sunny San Jose, but its ski tours reach more than 100 cities and ski destinations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Pickup points scattered across each city gather groups in the wee hours of the morning to board charter buses and drive to nearby ski resorts. Each coach bus is tricked out with a bathroom, TV screens for movies, and sometimes WiFi. Passengers can relax or snooze on the way to the slopes, arriving around 9 a.m. for all-day skiing and snowboarding. At 4:30 p.m., buses load up passengers and undercover snowmen and return home to the pickup point.

One day, customers learn how to steer a small keelboat or plunge into deep waters wearing scuba gear. The next, they soar through the trees on a zipline cable or drop through clear blue skies over Southern California mountains strapped to a skydiving instructor. Action Sports Adventures connects these thrill seekers to more than 35 types of extreme-sports and fitness classes at Los Angeles–based sports schools and facilities, which allows them to join in a range of adrenaline-pumping activities without having to marry a Hollywood stuntman. Instructors teach gliding-flight technique in paragliding classes and powered flight in private planes. They lead customers across local waves in seven categories of watersports, such as kiteboarding, wakeboarding, and surfing. In the mountains, they lead mountain-biking wilderness tours and help climbers tackle cliffs in lead-rope climbing excursions.

Staffers from Action Sports Adventures also connect customers with outdoor organized sports such as golf, horseback riding, and tennis, or help get them access to wooded fields and parks to play paintball or ride BMX bikes. For customers who focus on fitness, they provide classes and sessions in nine indoor fitness categories such as MMA, kickboxing, yoga, and gymnastics.

Aboard Seabreeze Charter’s 36-foot cruising yacht, passengers slice through Lake Michigan’s waves, steered by the steady hand of United States Coast Guard-certified captain Lorenzo Carrer. A native of Italy, Carrer has sailed in the Mediterranean and traced passages through the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast. Also decorated with various racing awards, Carrer now helms the yacht during chartered trips, and graciously hands over the wheel when instructing new sailors in the waters near Navy Pier. The vessel itself features two private cabins and a radio with an iPod connector, on which patrons can play classic maritime ballads about the difficulty of untying boating knots. In addition, an on-board life raft and a digital emergency call feature guard the boat against potential mishaps.

Gliding across Lake Michigan, the sailing party watches the sun sink beneath the Chicago skyline. As the last rays fade from view, the city's skyscrapers throw their light onto the lake's surface. The captain steers the ship past Grant Park and Millennium Park, and then veers out toward Navy Pier, where the ship's passengers find a prime viewing spot for the Saturday-night fireworks show.

In addition to charters like these, the captains of Go Sailing Chicago—all holding US Coast Guard Master Captain licenses and certifications from the American Sailing Association and US Sailing—furnish beginner through advanced sailors with sailing gloves and life jackets before leading hands-on instruction in proper seamanship. Launching from DuSable and Monroe Harbor, and sometimes other points along the lakeshore, Go Sailing Chicago's four-boat fleet meets or exceeds the safety standards set down by the USCG and the most persnickety of ship-in-a-bottle builders.

The hustle and bustle of the city can’t touch the calm waters of Lake Michigan. There, on gently rolling waves surrounded by fresh breezes, Kayak Chicago hosts tours and lessons, and lets paddlers take to the waters on their own with rentals. Captained by Dave Olson, a kayaker for more than 20 years and outdoor educator for more than 10, the company entrusts certified instructors and guides with shaping the strokes of kayaking newbies. Their tours take aquatic explorers out on the lake at night to ooh and ahh over summer fireworks or along the Chicago River to survey the city’s renowned architecture and map out their next bank heist. The staff also plants patrons on standup paddleboards for introductory lessons or wave-top rounds of SUPYoga or SUPPilates.

Since 1996, the staff at Seadog Cruises has welcomed explorers aboard sophisticated, open-air speedboats for city tours. Over the years, they’ve led more than two million sightseers through Baltimore and Chicago on cruises that elucidate city histories, paying special attention to landmarks such as Baltimore’s Naval Reserve Center and Chicago’s Tribune Tower. Their fleet of sea crafts uses low-sulfur diesel and a four-stroke engines that produce lower emissions than older models, allowing eco-conscious passengers to rest easy and fish to finally open their windows for some fresh water.