Winnipeg river trail keeps growing, could reach 10 km

The Forks river skating trail could reach a distance this winter that it hasn't achieved in nearly a decade.

"Right now we are just under five kilometres — the Red River Mutual Trail extends from The Forks to Churchill Drive on the Red River, and The Forks to Hugo Dock on the Assiniboine [River]," said Chelsea Thomson, communications manager with The Forks North Portage Partnership.

"If the weather co-operates we hope to be able to go as far as Arlington on the Assiniboine, and to the St. Vital bridge on the Red. That would bring us to almost 10 kilometres.

"We haven't been able to go that far since 2009, the year after we won the Guinness World Record."

However, Thomson cautioned, reaching those end points depends on weather conditions: A big snowfall could put a halt to those plans.

"But that's out hope, and what we hope to do as early as maybe this weekend," Thomson said, adding that another challenge is maintenance on the trail when mild temperatures arrive, which are in current forecasts.

Winnipeg is expected to warm to 2 C — that's plus two, not minus — by Friday, according to CBC meteorologist John Sauder.

That brings large crowds to the trail, making a lot of slush, Thomson says.

That should only be temporary, though. Sauder expects more normal daytime temperatures of –11 C to –15 C as next week starts.

The Zamboni at The Forks should be able to smooth that out again and keep the trail accessible until the season wraps up, typically the last week of February or first week in March.

"As long as the conditions are safe, as long as the ice remains as thick as we need it to be and there isn't anything on top that prevents our machines from making those repairs, we'll go as long as the season will allow," Thomson said.

The average seasonal distance of the trail is six kilometres, Thomson says, adding there have been years where it was much less, hitting about half that.

"The Assiniboine, which is the one that we've had problems with off and on probably for the last five to eight years is really low this year, which meant it froze really well," Thomson said.

Last winter was the first time in three years crews were able to stretch the trail along the Assiniboine.

"What's great about this year is that we've had such cold weather and the conditions of the rivers have been really favourable," Thomson said, likely becoming one of the very few Winnipeggers who didn't curse about the recent deep freeze.

"There's an upside to every weather condition, right?"

In 2008, the year the trail set the Guinness World Record for longest naturally frozen skating trail, the total distance was 8.54 kilometres.

The record was bettered the following year at just under 10 kilometres, primarily along the Assiniboine all the way to Assiniboine Park.

There's no chance of establishing a new record this year, though. 

That title is now held by Invermere, B.C., which built a 20-kilometre trail about five years ago around the circumference of Windermere Lake.

"That would be challenging for us," Thomson said.

While it's wonderful being able to reach new neighbourhoods and enabling people to connect with the trail from their back yards, the quality of the ice would suffer if it gets too long for crews to properly maintain it, Thomson says.

"We have to find a balance between quantity and quality with the trail," she said.