B.C. town wants to skate away with record

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This article was published 12/01/2012 (5045 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THERE’S a new player in the Cold War — the skating-trail cold war, of course.

The community of Invermere, B.C., wants Winnipeg’s record for having the longest skating trail in the world and while it’s at it, it wants to wrest away Ottawa’s title for the most square footage of skating area, too.

Lake Invermere in southeastern B.C. is a popular summer destination for boating and sun seekers but it’s not nearly as busy in the winter months. Gerry Taft, Invermere’s mayor, wants to change that.

Led by a group of cross-country skiing enthusiasts, people in the area are hoping to create a winding skating trail around the lake that tips the odometer at 17.7 km. They want to make it 10 metres wide, too. If they succeed, both records would be theirs. (Winnipeg’s record-setting skating trail hit more than 11 km three years ago.)

“Once we are successful in getting the Guinness Book of World Record titles, the only ice records that Winnipeg and Ottawa will have will be their lousy hockey teams,” said Taft with a laugh.

Them’s fightin’ words.

Paul Jordan, chief operating of the Forks Renewal Corp., who oversees Winnipeg’s river trail, has no intention of giving up the championship belt without a fight.

“We have the record and until somebody beats it, it’s ours,” he said.

If the unthinkable does occur, Jordan said he has every intention of taking it back.

“If we wanted to, and the Red River to the south is firmed up, we could go all the way to the University of Manitoba or Grand Forks,” he said, noting it might be difficult to gas up the Zamboni for such an endeavour.

Jordan said because of the unseasonably warm weather thus far this winter, his crews are a little behind their normal pace.

They have started building a pair of ice rinks at The Forks and hope to open them this weekend or early next week. Getting the river trail going, however, is another matter altogether.

“North on the Red River is hopeless, it’s wide open and flowing. There’s open water on the Assiniboine River, too, under the Main Street bridge and the Osborne bridge. Until that’s resolved, we’re not even looking at the Assiniboine,” he said. “If we had four or five days where it was consistently below 20 degrees at night, that’s going to do a lot. Typically, we’ve already had that by now.”

If the weather remains cold, Jordan’s crews will monitor the thickness of the ice on both rivers and proceed with the trail when it’s safe. Until then, he asks people to stay off the rivers.

Invermere has had its challenges due to weather, too. Taft said without a prolonged cold snap, this may not be its year for glory.

“We haven’t done any flooding yet. It may end up that this isn’t the year we go after the Guinness people. We might have to hold off until next winter,” he said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca