Visitors to The Forks can skate into the New Year now that the river skating trail has opened.
The Forks announced the opening on New Year’s Day.
"Whether your participating or just as a spectator, we have the Iron Man curling bonspiel, we have a couple cycling events that are going to be really fun and then Festival du Voyageur is going to be out in February as well,” said Chelsea Thomson of The Forks North Portage Partnership.
The Forks said the trail has opened ahead of schedule compared to last year. The recent cold weather allowed crews to finish the skating rink in The Forks Historic Port and part of the river skating trail.
Skaters can now explore 0.5 km of the river trail, from The Forks to Queen Elizabeth Way Bridge.
Thursday’s temperature hovered around –20 C, but that didn't scare away a hardy bunch of skaters, some of whom were just learning to skate.
"Any colder than this, we might have changed our mind," said Marc Juneau, who was giving a skating lesson.
Winter programing at The Forks kicks off the third weekend of January. That includes snowboard lessons, aboriginal programming in the tipis, and horse-drawn wagon rides.
Warming huts should also be on the ice by the third week of January. The pop-up restaurant on the river, Raw:Almond, will return on Jan. 22.
You can check trail conditions daily on The Forks’ website or by following @RRMTrail on Twitter.
