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OTTAWA – No matter how fun it may be at first, spinning around the restricted oval of an ice rink can be monotonous even for the most demanding skaters.
But with miles of pristine jungle gliding through the ice, birds in the trees, wildlife claw marks in the snow, and a new discovery beckoning at every bend? For skaters in Ottawa, it never gets old, and wooded ice trails proliferate in and around Canada’s capital city, helping to meet an insatiable demand for new recreational skating options.
“It’s a true childhood dream come true: to be able to glide wherever you want,” said Michelle Reid, who drove for nearly two hours from Kingston, Ontario, with her husband, Lee Larson, to celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary. icelynd, This was Ottawa’s sixth ice road network when it opened in January. “Skating through a forest instead of circling the rink.”
Chris Neil, a defender in the National Hockey League for 17 years, began felling trees last fall to turn a piece of forest into Icelynd.
Chainsaws in hand, he and one of his business partners, Jarrett Gibbons, plunged into the 25-acre property owned by Mr. Neil. They had to draw new paths in the woods because the types of trails used for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing are not suitable for skating. Slopes that will go unnoticed in any of these activities can mean water runs downhill before it freezes.
Even more worryingly, steep downhill descents can cause even experienced skaters to lose control – potentially creating a downhill ice cross variation, gladiator extreme sport Competitors wearing full hockey teams jump down ice rinks at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour.
When Mr. Neil and Mr. Gibbons fell trees and encountered unexpected slopes, they were sometimes forced to abandon the trails they had been traveling on for days – despite the fact that there was enough slope at the beginning of the path to give even novice skaters a grip. little taste olympic speed skating.
Mr. Neil, 42, has spent his entire NHL career with the Ottawa Senators. mostly as the enforcer of the team, a player is rewarded more for his skill with his fists than his ability to score goals. But he didn’t want Icelynd to be about hockey. He followed the lead of all but one of the local ice trail centers and banned sticks and discs from the trails.
Ottawa’s residents take a perhaps perverse pleasure in living in it. one of the coldest capitals in the world. On a very cold afternoon at the Icelynd, there were several young boys wearing their team’s red and white hockey jerseys as they walked around the less confident adult skaters. Also, Makalya Green, a student skating with her father Neil, was making rapid progress. Driving down a long straight, Makalya compared the experience to snowmobiling.
“Except it’s quieter,” his father added. “You can hear everything. The ice cracking, the wind in the trees.” Referring to the temperature in Celsius, he added: “On a minus 20 day, what else are you going to do?”
Many other skaters, including a family gathered around one of the fire pits dotted around the rink, commended the newcomer to the area’s skating scene, but noted that their tracks were narrower than the original track center in the capital area: the 3 kilometer track Patinage en Foret It is in Lac des Loups, north of Ottawa, Quebec.
When it opened a little over five years ago, the trail’s owner, Dave Mayer, said he estimated the trail, which is built on family farmland, could attract 3,000 people in its first season. But more people than that showed up the first weekend.
To compete against the free channel, for-profit skating rink operators took two approaches to entice people to pay. on the contrary channel skatingPrivate startups that cut through the heart of downtown Ottawa advertise themselves as a trip to the jungle.
Mr Mayer and Mr Neil also aim to make the track ice smoother than that of the canal. Cracks in the channel, which form when temperature fluctuations swell the ice, can sometimes puncture skates that require paramedic patrols in miniature over-ice ambulances.
Mr. Neil was one step ahead in keeping the surface of his ice smooth. Atypical even in Canada, both he and his business partner already had their own icing machines – Zambonis Appearing between periods in NHL games – to look after their family’s home runways.
But skaters chose it to praise the smoothness of the ice at Patinage en Forêt. Mr. Mayer said it took a lot of trial and error to discover the secret to making miles of smooth, durable ice in the woods. He declined to reveal his formula, but it includes an ice coating machine as well as a water tanker at the rear equipped with modified nozzles similar to those used by firefighters.
Because the canal and all its open airways are based on natural ice, climate change poses a major threat to their vitality.
The canal and all roads rely on natural ice. For the Rideau Canal Skateway, which welcomes 1.5 million skaters a year, this means that in recent years seasons have been as short as 18 skating days in 2016, well below the historical average of around 50 days.
This winter, several non-seasonal thaws and rainstorms blocked all snow-bound roads for several days. Seasonal opening and closing dates are difficult to predict, complicating business plans.
The National Capital Commission, the federal agency responsible for overseeing channel skating, began working with engineers and scientists at Carleton University this year to find ways to extend or at least protect the season. This season, channel remained open for 41 daysbefore closing on March 5.
Before starting to study the canal’s ice using underground radar one cold morning, Shawn Kenny, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, said there was little chance of extending the season as March warms up earlier.
But he said the research team is considering ways to allow for an earlier opening, including spraying slurry into the channel to build up the ice more quickly.
While other Canadian communities have ice trails, no place boasts as much as Ottawa. So when Icelynd opened in January, Mr. Mayer was not happy to have another competitor.
Not only does Icelynd take advantage of its association with a local hockey legend, it’s also just a short drive away for many Ottawa residents.
By contrast, Lac des Loups is about an hour from the city centre, so Mr. Mayer relies on both the reputation of its smooth ice to attract customers and new events such as torch skating nights offered at Arrowhead Provincial Park. in Huntsville, Ontario.
In addition to the new competition, Mr. Mayer faced another challenge this winter: From the end of January, a convoy of trucks and cars blockaded the streets of downtown Ottawa in a loud protest against the pandemic restrictions. Police soon closed most of the bridges to Quebec. In a few that were left open, congestion caused delays of hours.
But just before heading off into the night of winter’s final sweep and flooding, Mr. Mayer said he was still happy with his season and optimistic for the next period.
“It was actually a very, very good year,” said Mr Mayer. “So, yes, I would say we are back in business next year.”
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