The cold winter in Manitoba means that ice fishing is typically a hobby only for the hardy. But entrepreneurs are offering new ways to take the freeze out of ice fishing.
In Riverton, Mark Myrowich built a 13-ton Viking-style off-grid cabin that allows guests to enjoy ice fishing in luxury. The cabin has all of the luxuries of a home, complete with a woodburning stove, a full kitchen, beds and a composting toilet -- while sitting on top of frozen Lake Winnipeg.
"I don't want to build a snow hotel. That's been done. So why don't I try to build a hotel on ice?" he told CTV News.
Myrowich named the shack "Rosa" after his great aunt, in the Icelandic tradition to give land and properties a name.
"We're right on the 50th parallel and we can get a metre of ice on this lake. And I don't know if we can do that anywhere else in the world," he said.
More Manitobans than ever before have been hooked on ice fishing after the pandemic pushed people to find new outdoor activities. Over the past five years licensing in the province is up by about 16 percent, and it seems more people are looking to take up the sport in comfort and style.
Matt Smith, who is the owner and operator of Kannuk Outfitters, says his company, which offers guided ice fishing trips on Lake Winnipeg, has been "extremely busy" this season compared to last year.
"We thought it'd be a good idea to get new fishermen out. We see that Travel Manitoba and basically the whole province is getting behind ice fishing and the outdoors so seemed like a good opportunity to get lots of new fishermen out and that's really taken off," he told CTV News.
His luxury ice fishing trailer, dubbed the "Ice Castle," offers a furnace, a bathroom, a full kitchen and all the ice fishing equipment that you'll need. It costs about $300 per day to rent the trailer, although you'll have to join a waiting list as the Ice Castle is completely booked for the season.
"It's got pretty much everything you need for day out on the ice," Smith said. "It's good for people who don't even really care about fishing, even if they want to just come hang out with the family."
Eventually, both entrepreneurs would like to allow overnight stays, which are currently prohibited by the province.
"When the lake is liquid, it's under coastguard jurisdiction. But when it's frozen, it's Crown Land. So, we got to go through the Crown Land permitting process to be able to do that," Myrowich said. "There's a process of doing it on dirt, but there isn't a process yet of doing it on a frozen lake."
Both entrepreneurs also hope to expand. Myrowich wants to one day start up a whole Viking village with a sauna, more cabins and a Viking longhouse, while Smith says there's enough demand to one day have a fleet of four or five Ice Castles.
"I see people wanting to come for the experience -- the high-Arctic experience on the 50th parallel," said Myrowich.
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