Skating trail expected to open in time for New Year’s Day activities at The Forks

Skaters, rejoice: the Nestaweya River Trail at The Forks could be open as early as New Year’s Day, marking one of its earlier openings in recent years.

The port rink on the Assiniboine River and a small section of the the iconic river trail opened on Dec. 31 last year. The earliest recorded opening of the six-kilometre skating trail was Dec. 21, 2013.

“We had a good freeze this year… and we’re hoping for a nice, long season this year,” Adam Dooley, spokesperson for The Forks, said Monday.

Sections of the trail, which snakes along the Red and Assiniboine rivers and meets at The Forks port, have some slush owing to recent snowfall and may take more time to open, Dooley said.

The on-land trails and canopy rinks opened earlier this month.

Crews who work on the river trail drill thousands of holes along the rivers to test for ice thickness before clearing snow and flooding the surface to prepare it for skaters. The ideal thickness is at least 30 centimetres, Dooley said.

Once complete, weather permitting, the trail remains open, on average, for 50 or more days of the winter. In 2019-20, the trail was open for 76 days.

Recent winters have been tough for skaters owing to climate change and a constant freeze-thaw cycle, making skating conditions on the ice unsafe.

“We’re still dependent on cold weather. We’re looking for cold temperatures for the next few days just to help make sure everything freezes nicely,” Dooley said. “We will keep our fingers crossed that gives us a nice, long skating season.”

Environment Canada is predicting temperatures will rise to -7 C Tuesday before falling back to seasonal temperatures between Wednesday and Sunday. The mercury will drop to -20 C on Wednesday and hover around -16 C for the rest of the week.

Thursday’s anticipated opening aligns with a full slate of planned all-ages activities.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca