YORKTON - The fate of outdoor hockey rinks, crokicurl, and the skating path at Patrick Park in Yorkton are all on indefinite hold pending the whims of Mother Nature.
“We’ve been watching the weather and patterns,” said Matt Charney, Parks Manager with the city.
And so far the news has not been favourable for making ice.
“We tried back in November (to lay down outdoor rink ice), but it melted,” he said.
At this point ice making is on hold, but even if the weather turned favourable – meaning colder and maybe some snow – Charney said the skate pathway at Patrick Park will not likely be created this winter.
Charney said the pathway takes more prep time than other ice facilities, and really needs snow to help create a base and edges.
And, “we’re still not sure about crokicurl,” he added.
While they are not large areas, snow is an asset in their creation too.
If the weather cools – there appears little likelihood of that until at least early January, Charney said they will start to flood at least some of the five outdoor rink locations in the city.
Charney added that if the warm weather were to extend too far into January they might not make ice at all, given the limited time they might be viable, adding it’s not unusual to see warm days in February where ice starts to melt in a normal year.
