'Keep your head up': River trail reopens but risk of 'epic face plants' still real

The river skating trail at The Forks is back open after being closed for a few hours on Mondaydue to cracks hidden by fresh snowfall.

A morning tweet from the official account for the Red River Mutual Trail saidthe snow obscuredcracks in the skating surface "and could make for some epic face plants."

The cracks aren't huge gaping crevasses, but they are enough to catch a skate blade.

The snow was cleared and the trail was reopened by noon. However, the cracks and the face plant peril still exist.

"Keep your head up and stick on the ice!" the latest tweet from theRed River Mutual Trail said.

It's the second time this winter that the trail, which stretches outon both theAssiniboineand Red rivers from the port at The Forks, has had to close.

It was shut down for about a week in January after a stretch of unseasonably warm weather made the conditions too sloppy and wet.

• Warm weather closes river skating trail, Forks rinks

Current conditions on the river trail and theon-ground trail that runs through The Forks siteare listed as either fair or good.

The hockey rink by the festival stage and the round rink under the canopy are also listed as good.

The conditions of all rinks and trails can be found on The Forks website.

• Forks river skating trail conditions