Skiing, canal skating in jeopardy: report

Climate change is endangering several of Ottawa's favourite winter pastimes, including skating on the Rideau Canal and cross-country skiing in Gatineau Park, says a National Capital Commission report.

Last fall, the NCC commissioned a study to determine how it should adapt winter attractions to rising temperatures.

The report shows winter temperatures could rise by 12.5 degrees by the 2080s, with an increase of precipitation mostly in the form of rain.

Those rising temperatures could lead to a "complete loss of cross-country skiing in Gatineau Park" by the 2050s.

The report also predicts the maintenance of the Rideau Canal Skateway will become "increasingly challenging" with later start dates and shorter seasons.

Clive Doucet, who has been skating to work on the canal since the ice was first cleared 36 years ago, has already noticed the worrying trend.

"Normally, the big challenge is the cold. The last five or six years, the challenge is to get any ice at all."

The NCC has already begun tailoring some of its most popular winter programs to suit the warmer, wetter weather.

Adaptations include using lighter equipment on the ice, moving Winterlude events off Dows Lake and grooming ski trails with less snow.

The NCC is also working with museums to promote what it calls "less climate-sensitive events," or indoor activities, says Michelle Comeau, vice-president of the NCC's environment, capital lands and parks branch.

"We certainly know that the Skateway will continue to be an attraction, but we are diversifying in terms of the kinds of activities that are available for people in the winter," he said.

One idea discussed during a brainstorming session at the NCC last summer is to "downplay the importance of the Skateway as an attraction."