Trout Lake open for skating for first time in 20 years

CTV National News: Skating time in B.C. Frigid temperatures in Vancouver have a silver lining: skaters can carve the ice on the frozen Trout Lake. Melanie Nagy reports.

Vancouver residents are being invited to head down to Trout Lake and lace up their skates for the first time in two decades.

The city's park board announced Thursday that the lake near Victoria Drive and East 12th Avenue is covered in a layer of ice thick enough to support the weight of dozens of skaters.

Located in the centre of East Vancouver's John Hendry Park, the lake officially opened to the public Thursday morning when crews measured the ice to be at least 15 centimetres thick. In some areas, the frozen surface is as thick as 19 centimetres, the board said.

Ice needs to be at least 12 centimetres thick to keep skaters safe, the board said previously.

Trout Lake will likely stay open for several days, park board chair Michael Wiebe said at a news conference held in the middle of the frozen lake.

"We have a good little cold snap coming here for the next couple of days, so we're excited to hopefully keep this going for the whole weekend," he said.

He reminded users that the lake is unsupervised and parts of the ice are lumpy, so skaters should wear protective gear including helmets.

"It can be a little bit dangerous," he said.

There will be "ice patrol" members monitoring the thickness of the ice each day, as they did prior to its opening.

Wiebe said he personally asked staff to check the lake each day, starting with the first snowfall of the season.

"I've been pushing since the Day 1 we had a snowfall because I really wanted to come out here for a skate, so they've been testing every single day. I kept saying, Are we close? Are we close? I want us to have the same experience as I had as a kid here," Wiebe said.

"For me this is a huge moment. I want people to come out and get these memories."

He said he hopes the makeshift rinks, being made on the lake's surface by area residents who brought shovels from home, will bring people from across Vancouver to "this gem right in the middle of our city."

Residents will need to bring their own skates, but there is no cost to using the ice. The Trout Lake Community Centre is open during the day, so skaters and other park-goers can warm up and use the washrooms.

But those thinking the temperatures are cold enough for skating in the city's other parks are wrong, the park board said. Trout Lake is currently the only pond or lake in the city with ice thick enough to keep skaters safe.

A recent cold snap has turned parts of Vancouver into a winter wonderland, where streets are so icy that hundreds are lining up at fire halls to get free salt and part of the Stanley Park seawall has been closed for three days for safety.

"We want people to make sure they stay off the other ponds and come here," Wiebe said.

He warned that some lakes and ponds may seem thick enough in parts, but there are often thinner patches or even open water in other portions. There may also be cracks that can suddenly split thicker ice.

"It's just not as safe," he said.

Trout Lake is different because there is no flowing water and the park is further from the ocean than other areas, like the pond at Vanier Park where skaters have been ignoring "Danger: Thin ice" signs.

Wiebe advised the public to listen to "ice patrol" officials, wearing red lifeguarding jackets, as they are testing the ice surfaces every day.

"If you do see signs and you do hear them comment to get you off the ice, please listen to our ice patrol, because it is important that we're safe out here," he said.

Already this winter some people have fallen through the ice, including one person who walked out on the too-thin surface of Trout Lake on New Year's Eve.