Grab those skates! NCC opens 3.8-km stretch of Rideau Canal

The Rideau Canal Skateway's46thseason kicked off Saturday abit later than usual, but with one added benefit better than normal ice quality.

Officials with the National Capital Commission, which oversees the 7.8-kilometre skateway, said the quality of the ice along the stretch opened to the public today is among the best they've ever seen.

"Considering it's the first [day] it's in really good condition. It's probably in better conditionthan I've seen it for the opening," said Marc Corriveau, the NCC's director of urban lands.

At around 7:30 a.m. ET, theNCC opened a 3.8-kilometrestretch of the canal to skaters, from Somerset Street to the Bank Street bridge, excluding Patterson's Creek.

Entire canalcould be open by next week

While the canal'ssurface icehad been solid, it wasn't thick enough to allow people to safely use it until today, saidCorriveau.

Hesaid the stretches of the skateway north of Somerset Street and south and west of the Bank Street Bridge should hopefullyopen soon.

"Ice conditions are similar to what you see here. What we're missing is the ice thickness," he said.

"Over the course of the next few days we'll have ice safety [workers]out there. We'll be taking measurements, and hopefully early next week we'll be open."

The skateway'sJan. 23rd opening is one of the latest in recent years, and almost certainly means Ottawa won't be matching last year's record-breaking skating season.

However, it does mean that barring an unexpected heat wave the skateway will be open for the startof Winterlude, which kicks off Jan. 29.