Bring on the ice and snow: Ottawa鈥檚 Winterlude celebrates a frozen north
| Ottawa, Canada
The polar vortex that dipped from the Arctic down through North America in January briefly turned the Canadian capital into the world鈥檚 coldest, with thermometers reading -24 C (- 11.2 F.). Ottawa has been walloped by blizzards, including one this week that dumped 31 centimeters (12.2 inches) of snow.
Not exactly the stuff of dream escapes. But here at Winterlude, Ottawa attempts to give the most dreaded wintry conditions 鈥� mounting snow, bursts of frigid air, even ice 鈥� a rethink. In a country that prides itself on its northern stoicism but increasingly finds itself begrudging the climate, the festival is an ode to Canadian winter.
At the heart of Winterlude, in its 41st year, is the Rideau Canal, where visitors partake in the most quintessential of pastimes, ice-skating for 7.8 kilometers (4.8 miles) nonstop, on the largest natural rink in the world. It鈥檚 also a festival of ice slides, sledding, ice sculpture competitions, snowboard lessons, and iceboat racing down the canal.
Why We Wrote This
Even as Canadians may debate whether they embrace 鈥� or merely endure 鈥� the harshest season, the Winterlude festival is one large effort to turn a liability into an asset for fun.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really an opportunity for people to say, 鈥極K, you know what? I need to get out of my house, I need to put on my snow pants, I need to put on my toque, put a smile on my face, and get out there and enjoy it,鈥� 鈥� says M茅lanie Brault, director of capital celebrations at Canadian Heritage, the government department in charge of the festival. (And 鈥渢oque,鈥� if you were curious, is what Canadians call a winter hat.)
Roughly 600,000 visitors, from near and far, take part in the festival each year.
Julie Smyth, who works in government communications, is lacing down after a round-trip run. Once each season she touches every single part of the Rideau Canal聽Skateway, tracing the whole area. (She also saves this time of year for her annual BeaverTail, a fried dough pastry in the shape of its name.) 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to have this,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou can just go, and go, and go.鈥�
鈥淪omeone said it is going to be freezing and snowing whether you are happy or not, so you may as well be happy and enjoy it,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a good motto.鈥�
But this is what some might call selection bias. Josh Freed, who produced a documentary for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation called 鈥淟ife Below Zero,鈥� says Canadians have become reluctant winter revelers at best. He traveled from Russia to Scandinavia and back to Canada and concluded his compatriots have become a bunch of 鈥渨inter wimps,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e can tough it out in winter weather in ways I think that would shock and awe most countries. But we don鈥檛 embrace it anymore like we once did. We endure it.鈥�
There is certainly some evidence to back up his claim. Just this year, Montreal organizers canceled the 鈥淔estival of Snow鈥� one day because of 鈥� a snowstorm. 鈥淚t was embarrassing,鈥� Mr. Freed, a columnist at the Montreal Gazette, says.
Meanwhile Canada鈥檚 鈥渟nowbird鈥� population is going strong. Federal statistics count about half a million of them wintering in Florida. Canadians make up the largest segment of all international visitors to Florida, at 25 percent.
Perhaps the most telling of all: The brains behind Winterlude, a man named Rh茅al Leroux, is a snowbird himself. He has admitted to the local press on several occasions that he, in fact, hates the cold.
Freed places some blame on technology, like the 鈥渦nderground cities,鈥� networks of tunnels that run for miles underneath the urban core of Montreal or Toronto, essentially allowing Canadians to avoid winter. If a century ago men and women dressed in furs for an entire day out, today most people dress only warmly enough to go from their homes to the cars.
And yet technology is behind a reimagining of winter itself. The city of Edmonton is trying to become the 鈥渨orld鈥檚 greatest winter city,鈥� as urban planner Simon O鈥橞yrne puts it. He鈥檚 the co-chair of Edmonton鈥檚 WinterCity Strategy, a public-private partnership that has put winter at the top of the municipal agenda since 2012. 鈥淲hen [cities] think about winter, the only real policy they have is ... their snow clearing policy,鈥� he says.
Their designing wind barriers and expanding opportunities for outdoor sun exposure. The public鈥檚 wish list includes 鈥渃ross-country skiing through the river valley to work鈥� and 鈥渉ot chocolate carts鈥� on the way home.
The plan involves viewing dark days as an asset too. 鈥淎t 53 degrees latitude 鈥� you can see that darkness as a negative, or you could see that we have a palette of darkness to play with,鈥澛燤r. O鈥橞yrne says. 鈥淎nd with that palette of darkness we want to do whimsical fun things with architectural lighting and landscape lighting ... make them really kind of magical, in some ways almost like a dancing aurora borealis.鈥�
It鈥檚 ironic that a push for winter comes amid concerns over climate change, with reports warning that classic Canadian winter recreation, like outdoor hockey or skating on lakes, will no longer be viable on a warmer planet. Winterlude鈥檚 planners are also focusing beyond the Rideau Canal, which is often temporarily closed because of warm spells and rainfall.
鈥淏ecause of environmental change that is happening not only in the national capital region but across our country and the world, there are fewer days that the canal is open versus maybe 41 years ago鈥� when the festival began, says Ms. Brault.
In an archival photo of the first Winterlude in 1979, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau is holding his son, current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in his arms. They are attending a horse racing event 鈥� down the ice. 鈥淚 don't know if we would do that anymore,鈥� Brault says with a laugh.
For now, the canal remains the firm foundation of Winterlude. On a recent Thursday afternoon, the entire stretch is open. Sunlight glistens on the ice. As the canal turns a corner and the Skateway ends, the only sound is the swooshing of blades cutting the ice. One can almost imagine horses galloping by. No need for fancy lighting here. Just blades, a warm coat 鈥� and, of course, a toque.
