WINNIPEG -- The Red River Mutual river skating trail at The Forks could be considered a staple of Winnipeg’s winter for the thousands who brave the cold. But with record-breaking water levels, The Forks said the future of this year’s trail is up to mother nature.
The current water levels on the Red River are over 16 feet according to the city.
“It’s higher than we’ve ever had before at this time of year,” Larissa Peck, the manager of marketing and communications at The Forks, told CTV News Winnipeg. “There are so many factors that play into whether the river freezes well or not. It is always a living body of water and its fickle, and it depends on weather, and snowfall, and the flow of the river – whether its fast or slow – and the height of the river.”
Peck said The Forks is keeping a close eye on the river, but at this point it is too early to say whether the levels will affect the river skating trail. First the river has to freeze over.
Last year in a tweet the Red River Mutual Trail said, the trail officially opened to skaters on Jan. 4.
The trail was open for about 76 days, breaking the record for the longest number of days it had ever been opened. It stretched over 8.6 kilometres, with nearly 800,000 people skating the trail from the beginning of December to the end of February.
“We are here to provide activities and amenities all year round, but we have become known to have great winter amenities set up here,” Peck said. “We will continue to do that, but every single year – it is totally up to mother nature what that looks like.”
Once the river has iced over, Peck said The Forks will give trail updates online or on the Red River Mutual Trail twitter account.
“We are, of course, just going to go with the flow,” she said.
