We've put Ottawa on ice
IT won't be official until later today, but the "dweebs in snowsuits'' have beaten Ottawa's record of having the longest skating rink in the world.
In fact, the deep-freeze race between Winnipeg and the nation's capital isn't even close as the Rideau Canal, the current Guinness world record holder, has only just managed to open up a 1.2-kilometre stretch of its 7.8-kilometre trail.
How cool is that!
Winter means family fun in downtown Winnipeg
The view from the Main Street Bridge.
By comparison, the skating surface featuring both the Assiniboine and Red rivers is having the final touches applied to what will be a record-breaking icy trail that will be at least nine kilometres long when the measurements are officially taken today. Winnipeggers have already been enjoying the more than seven kilometres of trail that have been lovingly groomed and flooded.
"We were fine doing our 4.5-kilometre trail but when it got personal last year, we said 'OK, the gloves are off,' " said Paul Jordan, The Forks' chief operating officer nicknamed a 'dweeb in a snowsuit' by an Ottawa writer.
"I'm a hockey player and when someone calls you a dweeb in a snowsuit and you've got your skates on, you drop the gloves."
Creating the longest outdoor skating rink in the world wasn't easy, though.
"The biggest thing was getting the weather, because not every year does the river freeze this well," Jordan said. "That cold snap we had at the end of November, early December, that's when we knew we could really do it because everything froze very well."
But little has been freezing well in Ottawa this year, which has posed all sorts of problems for the National Capital Commission (NCC) as it prepares for the 38th season of running the canal rink.
While skaters were allowed on a small portion of the rink Friday, the NCC reports that much of the canal remains "dangerously thin and the poor quality of the ice makes it unsuitable for skating."
But rather than surrender to Winnipeg, the Rideau Canal is prepared to make a different boast.
"We think it's great and we think there's room for two records in Canada," said Kathryn Keyes, spokeswoman with the National Capital Commission. "We would be happy to see Winnipeg crowned as the world's longest."
Ottawa, she contends, will likely remain the largest with around 165,000 square metres of maintained ice.
On Friday, many people were taking advantage of the slightly milder temperatures on the river trail.
David Barlow, who used to live in Ottawa, was out Friday playing hockey on the river with his grandchildren.
"We always knew we had the ice surface," Barlow said, while taking a break from playing goalie. "It's the maintaining it and shovelling that takes some time."
He joked that while Ottawa boasts a world record, you can't even skate on the canal right now. Barlow's sister-in-law was surprised it took Winnipeg so long to create the longest outdoor rink in the world.
Access points to the River Trail (Click on icons for details)
While Barlow was playing hockey, a white and blue Zamboni drove by to clear the ice. Others, who didn't lace up their skates, were walking or jogging along the river.
One woman was skating as her little dog slid on its paws behind her. A group of three guys skated by as quickly as they could.
Kristen Dionne and Tania Roeder were skating along the river Friday and try to get out on the ice as often as possible. Roeder can't wait until the rest of the skating trail opens.
"It's great, because Winnipeg has such a bad name in the summer because of the mosquitoes and in the winter because it's so cold and you don't want to go outside," Roeder said. "The longer the skating trail, the better."
At various points along the trail, wooden benches surrounded by trees are set up for skaters needing a break. Around seven log shelters will be scattered across the trail for cover during the -45 C weather when people brave the elements to go for a skate. A few of the shelters have already been set up and the rest will follow this weekend.
The Forks expects to see around 20,000 skaters this weekend.
meghan.hurley@freepress.mb.ca
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