The Forks skating trail reopens as weather chills

Winnipeg's river skating trail is back in business.

The past few days of colder temperatures have allowed The Forks to reopen the Red River Mutual Trail, which has been closed for about a week.

"After our bizarre, record-warm January weather, it's great to reopen and invite people back onto the trails," said Paul Jordan, CEO of The Forks North Portage Partnership.

The stretch of mild weather filled the skating trail and the adjacent walking trail with puddles but the ice itself is still plenty thick.

• Warm weather closes river skating trail, Forks rinks

For now, the trail winds 1.3 kilometres on theAssiniboineRiver from the port at The Forks toOsborneVillage, as well as 0.7 kilometres on the Red River to theNorwoodBridge. But extensions to the pathare already underway along both rivers.

The kilometre of on-land trailsthat meander through The Forks site are also open again, as are thesnowboarding and tobogganing sites at The Forks' Arctic Glacier Winter Park.

On top of all of that, the latest Canadian ice attraction is also now open.

A rink for crokicurl, whichcombines two popularpastimes crokinoleand curling is available on a free-to-play basis near the canopy.

Players can borrow rocks from The Common, which is open from noon until late most nights.

• Curling and crokinole collide, creating a new ice game in Winnipeg

As long as the weather behaves like middle-of-winter weather should in Winterpeg, the latest warming huts will soonbe added to the river trails.

The architects should have their pieces completed by the end of this week and the huts will be moved to their places on the trail shortly after that, officials with The Forks said.

• Warming huts take shape at The Forks

"I'm amazed at the creativity and variety of the submissions we received this year," said Jordan. "There's a fully-enclosed beach, a hut that spans the entire width of the Red River Mutual Trail, and a giant lantern suspended over a snow tunnel.

"It's great to see that we continue to receive original designs from all over the world, right here in Winnipeg."

The winners of the 2017 warming hut competition will join 2016 winners Temple and Shelter Belt, and past winners Woolhaus, Hygge House, Smokehouse, Skybox, Fir Hut, Apparition, Under the Covers, Wind Catcher, Red Blanket, Windshield, Recycling Words and The Hole Idea.

• Anish Kapoor creates warming hut for Winnipeg river trail