Outdoor skating rinks battle to keep ice as weather warms
'This year has been a battle for the backyard rinks,' says rink owner
The unusually warm winter weather may good news to some, but for those looking to get some ice time on backyard rinks? Not so much.
Outdoor rinks are taking a hit thanks to this week's surging temperatures, turning many into what look like giant puddles.
The rinks maintained by the cities of Charlottetown and Stratford are all closed due to the conditions.
And backyard rinks haven't fared any better.
"It just looks like a large pool," said Sherry MacInnis, who has a rink in her Stratford backyard. "It's pretty wet over there."
"If the temperature drops quickly, it will just freeze and it will be a great, smooth surface for the kids to skate on," she said.
"If it starts to snow and then starts to freeze, then the snow is going to make it bumpy and we'll have to scrape it and reflood it ourselves."
"This weather is killing it," said Ryan Myers of his backyard rink in Charlottetown.
Myers' sons and their neighbours use the rink daily, which he said makes the work to maintain the rink worthwhile.
Now he's trying to get more water on the rink before the temperature drops. He has a hose rigged up from his laundry room sink to the rink.
"There's no laundry gets done when it's rink time," he said.
"If all the snow comes and it's still not frozen, it will make a huge mess. It will be very hard to recover."
Shawn Rodgerson has also been fighting to keep his rink skateable.
"This year has been a battle for the backyard rinks," he said.
He said despite the warm weather, his rink is holding up okay.
"Having a rink liner helps hold all the water so these up-and-down temperatures don't hurt it all that much," he said.
Temperatures are forecast to drop below zero Thursday night, with snow in the forecast Friday.
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