The Rideau Canal Skateway is finally reopening on Sunday
After nearly 700 days without proper ice, the Rideau Canal is opening for skating again.
The skateway will be open at 9 a.m. on Sunday for the first time since March 2022, the National Capital Commission (NCC) said in a statement and announced on their website Saturday afternoon.
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According to the NCC, the public will be able to skate on a 1.9-kilometre section between the Pretoria Bridge and Bank Street.
BeaverTails kiosks will also be open, the NCC said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Skate rentals are not yet available, they said.
In a statement, NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum said he was "thrilled" that the skateway's 54th season would soon be underway.
"Our team learned a lot from the challenges we faced last year and were able to put measures in place, helped by more seasonal temperatures, to make it happen this year," he said.
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Last year's warm, wet winter meant the 7.8-kilometre skateway didn't open at all for the first time in its more than 50-year history. The lack of Ottawa's iconic icy pastime was an economic and cultural blow for the area.
There have been years of warnings about climate change shortening the skating season, as well as years of efforts by the NCC to do something about it.
COVID-19 rules also hung over the canal in the two most recent skating seasons.
The ice needs to be at least 30 centimetres thick before the canal can open safely — and even thicker if the quality is poor.
Weather station will collect data
While this winter started out mild as well, colder temperatures over the past two weeks combined with "excellent work" by NCC crews means there's a stretch that's now thick enough for safe public skating, the commission said in its statement.
Skaters will also notice a weather station collecting environmental data this year, the NCC said.
That data will be used to "calibrate numerical models predicting climate change effects on the skateway's performance and resilience," according to their statement.
Header image submitted by Janet Stephens.
This article was originally published by CBC News on January 20, 2024.
