Rideau Canal Skateway closes for the season
The Rideau Canal Skateway, closed now until next year. Photo courtesy C. Miller
The National Capital Commission has called a halt to skating the canal, until next winter, of course. According to this NCC press release on Thursday:
The heavy wet snow of the past 24 hours has weakened the ice and with the continuing mild weather forecast it is unrealistic to expect the ice to rebuild to safe conditions and to resume the skating season.
THE SEASON — The 43rd skating season on the world’s largest skating rink started on January 18, 2013 and lasted 42 days. Over that period, 38 skating days, (including a stretch of 26 consecutive days that overlapped with all three weekends of Winterlude) welcome more than 835 000 visits on the Skateway.
As seasons go, this one was fairly modest. According to the NCC “The average skating season is 50 days long, but the record (set during the 1971–72 season) is 95 days.”
Hopefully you were able to get out and enjoy some time on outdoor ice, while it lasted.
And for everyone who is sick of winter, perhaps we’ll be looking at an early, mild spring?
Tags: canada, Ice skating, NCC, outdoor recreation, RIdeau Canal Skateway
