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There are tricks to making a canal freeze the right way — nothing that will work if the weather turns too warm, but Winterlude organizers hope to get through this weekend.
There was far too much warmth all through December and January, one year after the Rideau Canal Skateway set a record for the length of time it stayed open.
This weekend’s forecast isn’t great: a high of 0 degrees Saturday, 5 degrees Sunday and 3 Monday. Nights will be barely below the freezing point — with the exception of Friday night, at a solid -12.
With that in mind, Bruce Devine has to be an ice strategist for the National Capital Commission. (Actual title: manager of the Skateway.)
No two years are the same, he said in an interview.
“This year we have very little snow. But the (snow) that we got, we decided to flood it. So it acts like a sponge when it’s full of water, and that condenses so tight it becomes white ice.
“By this approach we accelerate the ice thickness, allowing us to open earlier than if we had to wait for Mother Nature.”
“We have done that for the last five, six, seven years, maybe,” he said. “When you take a core sample you can see the different layers — made by snow, or naturally, or a bit of both.”
It’s like ski resorts, which add snow-making to natural snow, Devine says.
Another trick this year involves the huts. They always use a crane to lift in the heaviest structures — the heated dressing rooms that go on the ice. But normally smaller huts can be dragged in behind a truck after the ice is solid.
Not this winter. They lifted everything by crane to avoid damaging the ice by dragging the structures.
Cold nights have given crews a reprieve. While the ice thickness is not a worry, the quality of the surface is. Applying many thin layers of water that freeze quickly is the secret to a good surface, Devine says — the same tactic that a Zamboni uses.
“Our hope — our plan — is to remain at least open until Sunday evening and hope for the best that the ice won’t be too damaged.”
On the plus side, the forecast is cloudy. Sun and warmth soften ice very fast. He’s keeping his fingers crossed that there won’t be a lot of rain.
He’s counting on “a few days” to repair the ice next week.
Skaters interviewed near Fifth Avenue Friday said the newly-opened section at the north end is the roughest, while the surface in the canal’s mid-section is better. The south end is closed at Bank Street. Some were clearly worried about skating in Sunday’s warmth.
“If anybody comes down here they will wreck the ice,” said Richard Goodall of Kanata. “I think that people have to do other things.
“But, you know, it will be cold again. They can flood it and start over.”
Meanwhile the City of Gatineau has shut down its own outdoor skating on Brewery Creek.
tspears@postmedia.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
There was far too much warmth all through December and January, one year after the Rideau Canal Skateway set a record for the length of time it stayed open.
This weekend’s forecast isn’t great: a high of 0 degrees Saturday, 5 degrees Sunday and 3 Monday. Nights will be barely below the freezing point — with the exception of Friday night, at a solid -12.
With that in mind, Bruce Devine has to be an ice strategist for the National Capital Commission. (Actual title: manager of the Skateway.)
No two years are the same, he said in an interview.
“This year we have very little snow. But the (snow) that we got, we decided to flood it. So it acts like a sponge when it’s full of water, and that condenses so tight it becomes white ice.
“By this approach we accelerate the ice thickness, allowing us to open earlier than if we had to wait for Mother Nature.”
“We have done that for the last five, six, seven years, maybe,” he said. “When you take a core sample you can see the different layers — made by snow, or naturally, or a bit of both.”
It’s like ski resorts, which add snow-making to natural snow, Devine says.
Another trick this year involves the huts. They always use a crane to lift in the heaviest structures — the heated dressing rooms that go on the ice. But normally smaller huts can be dragged in behind a truck after the ice is solid.
Not this winter. They lifted everything by crane to avoid damaging the ice by dragging the structures.
Cold nights have given crews a reprieve. While the ice thickness is not a worry, the quality of the surface is. Applying many thin layers of water that freeze quickly is the secret to a good surface, Devine says — the same tactic that a Zamboni uses.
“Our hope — our plan — is to remain at least open until Sunday evening and hope for the best that the ice won’t be too damaged.”
On the plus side, the forecast is cloudy. Sun and warmth soften ice very fast. He’s keeping his fingers crossed that there won’t be a lot of rain.
He’s counting on “a few days” to repair the ice next week.
Skaters interviewed near Fifth Avenue Friday said the newly-opened section at the north end is the roughest, while the surface in the canal’s mid-section is better. The south end is closed at Bank Street. Some were clearly worried about skating in Sunday’s warmth.
“If anybody comes down here they will wreck the ice,” said Richard Goodall of Kanata. “I think that people have to do other things.
“But, you know, it will be cold again. They can flood it and start over.”
Meanwhile the City of Gatineau has shut down its own outdoor skating on Brewery Creek.
tspears@postmedia.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
