So far, the winter of 2015-16 brought a total of 25 skates -- not all of them on the Skateway, of course. Every year there's time put aside for a father-son skate around Family Day, and we managed to go out on a day when the NCC was clearing the snow from the 53 cm. that hit us the day before. It made for an interesting skate!
Read MoreYesterday morning, the snow began falling before people woke up to go to work. It continued falling all day. Falling and falling. It was never falling so thick to impair visibility. Just a steady and constant snowfall. And by evening, we had 50 cms -- that's over a foot and a half of snow in one day.
Read MoreThe winter gods have a sense of humour. Last week, the temperatures were so warm, the Rideau Canal Skateway was covered with meltwater and had to be closed. This weekend, it opens once more, but the thermometer drops to minus-29 and, with the wind chill, minus-40.
Read MoreJust in time for the last weekend of Winterlude, the Rideau Canal Skateway has reopened. A blast of Arctic air has brought winter back to the city, and the cold has been intense enough that the National Capital Commission has now opened the entire 7.8 kilometers of the skateway.
Read MoreA week of unseasonably warm weather has kept the Rideau Canal Skateway closed, refocusing last weekend's Winterlude activities on the off-ice areas such as the Cartier Park snow slides, the Confederation Park ice sculptures, and the snow sculptures at Lansdowne Park. But good news: the cold weather is back! The canal is open again! And just in time for upcoming final weekend of Winterlude.
Read MoreThe warm weather has pretty well wiped out the Rideau Canal Skateway for this second weekend of Winterlude. But when you're attracting hundreds of thousands of people to Ottawa from across Canada and around the world, the show must go on! And fortunately there's lots of options.
Read MoreBernardo was determined that “foreign experience” would include the cold embrace of the Canadian winter. And his dream came true in a way he never expected.
Read MoreWhat was Saskatoon's secret? The weather helped. Last year, the temperature as around minus-30, but that didn't stop Sandy Campbell from playing the bagpipes while he skated the first Sir John A skate in 2015.
Read More"People thought it cool to see the kilts," says Dr. Gillian. "They were a bit surprised when all of a sudden at 2pm the bagpipe music started on the speakers. A contrast from what had been playing earlier."
Read MoreGrab opportunities to skate when they come -- whether in a kilt or not. On Friday morning, the sun was bright, the temperatures cold, the wind wicked, and the rink at Nathan Phillips Square almost deserted. With a half hour before the stores at the Eaton's Centre to open, and one hour before a scheduled reading, there's more than enough time to freeze the knees.
Read MoreWe've been trying to bring kilt skating to Toronto, so when a conference brings you to the big city, then pack the skates and the kilt, bring along the flag, and see if you can make some friends.
Read MoreOttawa's Winterlude begins Friday. Montreal's kilt skate is Saturday. In Saskatoon, Sunday brings the finale of the Wintershines festival: a kilt skate followed by the world's biggest snowball fight. What a great weekend for winter-lovers.
Read MoreThe great thing about this year is that Robbie Burns suppers takes place on a Friday, but the national poet's birthday falls on a Monday. That means that there's a full weekend when we can all feel very Scottish.
Heck, the entire month of January should be proclaimed "Scottish Month in Canada."
Read MoreThe Canadian has done this many times before. The Brazilian learned to skate only a month ago. The Mexican has not been on skates since he was a small boy. They've all come down to the Rideau Canal Skateway to enjoy the world's largest skating rink.
Read MoreSo this weekend, let's feel for all the wee and slicket timorous beasties. Let's ponder how the best laid plans o' mice and men gang aft a-gley. Let's try to see ourselves as others see us. Let's acknowledge that that the finest hours that e'er we spend are spent among the lasses-o. Let's drink a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne. Let's be thankit because we hae meat and we can eat. Let's celebrate the man of independent mind who looks and laughs at a' that. Let's keep our hearts in the highlands, a-chasing the deer. Let's cherish our loves -- the red red roses, newly sprung in June. And let's admit that, had we never lov'd sae kindly, and had we never lov'd sae blindly, and never met—or never parted -- we had ne'er been broken-hearted.
Read MoreThe ice is a bit rough, but we expect that on the first day. Everyone on the Rideau Canal Skateway was just happy to have a 3.8 km portion of the world's longest skating rink open on a perfect winter afternoon -- sunny, minus 10 degrees, and no wind. Here's some pix.
Read MoreThe season is starting late. Two years ago, we were skating the canal on New Year's Eve. The latest was February 2, 2002. Just couple of weeks ago, the canal was buried in snow. The ice was too thin for maintenance, and the temperatures refused to drop low enough to hurry the freezing process along.
Read MoreThis is the weekend where it is dangerous to be a "great chieftan o the puddin' race." Tonight around the world, Scots will honour the great national poet, Robbie Burns. One of the highlights of the evening will be the "Address to a Haggis" in which the knife is plunged into the poor beastie, "Trenching your gushing entrails bright."
Read MoreThey know how to do things right in Saskatoon! As a finale to the PotashCorpWintershines Festival, Sir John A's Great Canadian Kilt Skate will be followed by an attempt to break the Guinness world record for the world's largest snowball fight. Will any of the kilt skaters join the battle? A sporran would make a great place to store snowballs -- much more practical than pockets.
Read MoreThe cold snap continues, and we have hopes that the Rideau Canal Skateway will open soon. The National Capital Commission won't raise the green flags until there's 30 cms of good ice -- enough to support crowds of 10,000 people who show up forWinterlude at a given time.
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across canada, communities host kilt skates to celebrate scotland’s contribution to our multicultural fabric.
