Most of Rideau Canal Skateway now open

There's a silver lining to all this cold weather Ottawa has been going through these past couple of weeks: the Rideau Canal Skatewayis finallyopen.

The @NCC_SkatewayTwitter account, which for days hadbeen barraged with questions from residents about a possible opening date, broke the news Thursday afternoon.

The National Capital Commission said the canal is open from theBronson rest areato Pretoria Bridge, including Dow's Lake.

It will take some guts, though, tolace up in theopening days, with an extreme cold warning and a frostbite warning in effect for Ottawa.

Residents are urged to cover up and wear multiple layers to prevent frostbite.

Bruce Devine, the skateway's senior manager, said in an interview Friday morning that the cold meant workers had to take breaks to warm up inside and battle equipment malfunctions.

The canal water was still too warm at 3 C or 4 C when they tried to get on the ice in the days before Christmas.

Starting Dec. 26 they were able to get to work and open up the first portion after a pretty standard 10 nights of freezing temperatures.

"We'd like to think [we can open the rest] soon," he said.

"We've already watered the other sections so it should happenwithin the [next] few days. It's weather dependent if the breeze puts a bunch of snow on the ice, we can't water it."

Devine added the ice on the canal's northern and southern ends is thick enoughnow, but too bumpy and cracked for safe skating.

View Rideau Canal facts and figures here.