With winter here, the Dutch are getting swept up in a fever of excitement and anticipation. There's one thing they look forward to every winter: ice skating on natural ice. It's a beloved tradition – and officially recognised as part of the country's intangible cultural heritage.

Skating in the Netherlands goes way back to the Middle Ages when it was mainly used as a way to get around – for obvious reasons: the country is flat and has lots of canals. When those canals froze, they became icy highways connecting villages, making trade and communication possible even in the harshest winters.

By the mid-19th century, ice skating had evolved into a popular sport and recreational activity in the Netherlands. Today, the country has over 400 ice clubs and the highest number of long-track speed skating rinks in Europe. The Dutch dominate international speed skating competitions; of the 147 Winter Olympic medals the Netherlands has won, 133 are from speed skating.