It’s clear: Clear Lake video draws visitors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/12/2015 (3677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

wfpvideo:4649887032001:wfpvideo

MOTHER Nature may not have a chequebook, but she may help businesses in and around Riding Mountain National Park cash in by creating perhaps the most perfect ice-skating rink seen in the area in recent memory.

Pedestrian and skater traffic picked up Tuesday, less than 24 hours after a Free Press story and video ran on the idyllic skating conditions on Clear Lake. (A combination of windless nights, no snow and sub-zero temperatures have created a glass-like surface that’s rarely seen.)

And it looks as if things are going to get a little busier, starting this weekend.

“We’ve had lots of calls for bookings today, especially over the Christmas holidays,” said Karly McRae, owner of the 16-room Lake House boutique hotel. “There’s a lot of excitement about coming up (to Riding Mountain) and having the first experience of skating on glass. It’s pretty cool and great for us.”

She’s all booked up for Friday but still has some rooms available for Saturday and Sunday.

“Most businesses in the townsite are closed in the winter. We’re working with the park and some of the other businesses to try and extend our season. (The skating conditions) are definitely fantastic for us,” she said.

It wasn’t hard to notice more people around town Tuesday, said Richard Dupuis, visitor experience manager at Riding Mountain.

“There’s been a constant stream down to the pier. That’s always an iconic place where people gather to look at the lake,” he said.

Dupuis is preaching safety first for people arriving with a pair of skates slung over their shoulders.

“We want to make sure people are safe and to be vigilant. Ice moves and different conditions can happen. Be smart about being on the ice. You can skate with others; never go alone,” he said.

Tyler Kaktins, who owns the Foxtail Café with his wife, Julie, said all the locals are buzzing about the lake, and the resulting media coverage has him hoping the 40 seats in their full-service restaurant are full this weekend.

“Around this time of year, especially when school lets out, people start enjoying the outdoors. Everybody is talking about the lake. It’s so rare that it freezes like that,” he said.

McRae said she shared the Free Press video on the hotel’s Facebook page, and it generated more than 12,000 views there alone. (It has more than 200,000, and counting, in total.)

“I even posted my own video of our seven-year-old daughter, Ellie, skating on the lake, and it went crazy. We’ve got lots of views, likes and shares. It’s only 10 seconds long, but it’s probably been our most popular post ever,” she said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca