Skating on the Assiniboine River unlikely thanks to open water

A section of open water the size of a swimming pool means there likely won't be any skating on the Assiniboine River this year, according to a spokesperson at The Forks.

The popular skating trail usually has legs down the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.

But so far, only 2.5 kilometres of the Red River Mutual Trail is open on the Red.

The section of open water on the Assiniboine just west of The Forks isn't unusual said Chelsea Thompson, manager, Marketing and Communications for The Forks North Portage Partnership, and in the past there has been a narrow trail past it.

"In other years we've still had an open section, it's common because run-off from the bridge sort of lands and it like opens that section up. But because of how fast the water is moving in addition to the run-off that section is even larger than it normally is," said Thompson.

Even if the ice was in reasonably good shape west of the section of open water, Thompson said there is too much open water for their crews to get to it.

Thompson said it's a shame because it's a very popular part of the skating trails.

"We've had so many questions from the general public, people either tweeting us or commenting on our Facebook post about how the Assiniboine can potentially be so much more of a nicer skate, it tends to be the more sheltered, the Red is far more open and you're exposed to the elements so people really like the Assiniboine but, unfortunately, that's not something we've been able to open this year," Thompson said.

The final decision on whether to attempt to open up the trails on the Assiniboine this year has yet to be made, but Thompson says it's not likely.

Meantime, the mild weather has brought skaters out in droves this past weekend, but it also means the condition of the skating trail on the Red is in less than ideal shape.

"We saw twenty thousand people each day on Saturday and Sunday in The Forks Market and a lot of those people are coming to us from the Red River Mutual Trail, so, that amount of people and that warm of weather and yeah, the trail is going to take a beating unfortunately," Thompson said.

Sunday, someone erased the word "Fair" from the board listing the ice conditions and wrote in "Terrible".

Thompson said their crews are working to improve the conditions, but because it is so mild there is only so much they can do until the weather turns colder.