El Niño has helped make late autumn and now early winter warmer than usual and that means delays to traditional frozen lake recreation in the East Kootenay.

The best-known example of frozen lake recreation occurs on Lake Windermere, where the world’s longest skating and cross-country skiing trail has been gobsmacking visitors and locals for 17 years.

The Whiteway and its 31 km of trail remains closed due to unstable ice thickness, the Toby Creek Nordic Ski Club reports.

“To run our lightest (grooming/clearing) equipment we need to have eight inches of good solid ice on the lake. Currently on Lake Lillian we have six inches and Lake Windermere has seven inches. We still haven’t had any double digit cold since my last update so there is still a great deal of wet spots out there.

“I would say it will be a bit of time, and the need for some cold weather, until the Whiteway can open,” the Nordic Club outlined.

Please be mindful that the Whiteway on both lakes is still closed.

Learn more about the Whiteway and keep tabs on when it might open.

Toby Creek Nordic Ski Club photo

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