No Ice, No Skating: World’s Largest Outdoor Ice Rink Closed
The Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa has yet to open due to a lack of ice.
For perhaps the first time in a half-century, the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Canada is facing the possibility of a fully closed season due to a lack of ice. The Skateway sees up to a million visitors yearly, and Guinness lists it as the world’s largest natural ice rink, is a 4.8-mile part of the Rideau Canal connecting Ottawa, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River and sees more than a million visitors each year.
The Skateway’s opening dates depend on the weather. The ice must be almost a foot thick, usually requiring up to two weeks of sustained below-freezing temps. However, Ottawa has experienced one of its warmest-ever winters, and there isn’t enough ice to create the Skateway.
Canada’s National Capital Commission (NCC) has yet to end the season. Still, an NCC spokesperson that “persistent above-normal seasonal temperatures and current ice conditions prevent us from opening the Rideau Canal Skateway this week.”
The lack of a skating rink is an extreme example of a growing trend of increasingly later seasons, as the skating season has opened before January 1 only six times in the last 26 years.
The NCC is already working with Carleton University to address the impact of climate change on the Skateway with a four-year project consisting of two years of data-gathering before modeling to predict future ice behavior. Finally, the academics will suggest solutions for adapting the Skateway.
Though officials have not yet made a final call for the season, CTV that upcoming record-warm temperatures mean hopes for the Skateway are fading fast.
For perhaps the first time in a half-century, the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Canada is facing the possibility of a fully closed season due to a lack of ice. The Skateway sees up to a million visitors yearly, and Guinness lists it as the world’s largest natural ice rink, is a 4.8-mile part of the Rideau Canal connecting Ottawa, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River and sees more than a million visitors each year.
The Skateway’s opening dates depend on the weather. The ice must be almost a foot thick, usually requiring up to two weeks of sustained below-freezing temps. However, Ottawa has experienced one of its warmest-ever winters, and there isn’t enough ice to create the Skateway.
Canada’s National Capital Commission (NCC) has yet to end the season. Still, an NCC spokesperson that “persistent above-normal seasonal temperatures and current ice conditions prevent us from opening the Rideau Canal Skateway this week.”
