Rideau Canal Skateway not expected to open for Winterlude's 1st weekend
If it doesn't open by Thursday, it will be skateway's latest opening ever
A senior manager with the National Capital Commission (NCC) says he doubts the Rideau Canal Skateway will be able to open for the first of three Winterlude weekends.
"We're going to be watering the ice every night this week. We want to benefit from the cold snap to work as fast as possible to open as soon as possible," said Bruce Devine, the NCC's senior facilities and programs manager, in an interview Tuesday.
"Will this be open for this weekend, for the first Winterlude weekend? I doubt it."
If the canal doesn't open for skating by Thursday — and given Devine's comments, it doesn't look like it will — it would make this winter the latest opening since the NCC started clearing and managing the ice in 1971.
Ottawa has had a mild, snowy winter up until this week, which has resulted in poor ice-making conditions. Temperatures around –10 C without much snow or sun are ideal, Devine said.
"It's the up and down of Mother Nature — not having a sufficient window between two snowfalls to water the ice, to get it [frozen] before the next snowfall — that's been the challenge," he said.
Devine didn't want to guess when the first stretch of the skateway would open, saying it depends how fast the ice can freeze and build up.
The Ottawa area is entering a cold snap, with more of those ideal temperatures (if not colder than ideal) expected through the weekend.
Then again, Sunday's forecasted high is 1 C.
Winterlude, which officially kicks off Friday, is a midwinter tourism draw for Ottawa-Gatineau. This year marks the return to a festival focused on in-person events, after the pandemic forced the 2021 and 2022 editions to go virtual.
The festival's ice dragon boat races, originally set to take place on the canal this weekend, were cancelled late last month. Saturday's annual Winterlude triathlon has also been relocated off the canal and will now have just skiing and snowshoeing events at Mooney's Bay.
A winter Pride parade slated for Feb. 12 on the canal ice is still scheduled to go ahead.
With files from Radio-Canada's Frédéric Pepin
