Mild weather closes Assiniboine River trail

Posted: 12:54 PM CST Friday, Mar. 2, 2018 Last Modified: 8:02 AM CST Saturday, Mar. 3, 2018 | Updates

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2018 (3089 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All good things must come to an end.

The Assiniboine River portion of Winnipeg’s annual skating trail was shut down on the heels of this week’s mild spell, The Forks announced Friday.

“This has been a great winter for the Red River Mutual Trail and we’ll keep it going as long as we can on the Red River. But the conditions on the Assiniboine are not good due to outflows of water, and the access points are no longer in great shape,” said Paul Jordan, chief executive officer of The Forks North Portage Partnership.

The Forks river trail staff close off the trail on the Assiniboine River at The Forks Friday. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

“It’s time to close that part for everyone’s safety.”

Workers removed access points on the Assiniboine River section Friday.

The spring-like weather also prompted the closure of the canopy rink for the season at Arctic Glacier Winter Park. All upper trails on The Forks site remain groomed and operational.

The rest of the trail located at The Forks Port remains open.

This season, at its longest, the skating trail stretched from the St. Vital Bridge to Arlington Street, for a total of 10 kilometres.

The last time it exceeded 6.5 km was in 2009, when it was 9.34 km long.

In 2008, Winnipeg made it into the Guinness World Records, when the trail reached 8.4 km, as the longest skating trail on a naturally frozen surface. Lake Windermere in B.C. currently holds the title, with 34 km of skating trail.

This season, the trail opened Dec. 22 and has been in use for the longest stretch in its history: 71 days and counting. Last year, it was open only 33 days.