Residents might be loving the warm temperatures, but local skaters and hockey players are not.
Staff at the Keremeos Recreation Centre said the rink would be closed most of the week during an interview Tuesday morning with the Review.
“The ice rink is being closed from today (Tuesday) to Thursday,” Laura McCarron, recreation co-ordinator for the facility said.
“It’s the weather and the wind. There’s actually two factors at play because of the warm temperatures it’s melting the ice, but because of the wind it’s creating movement of the water on the surface. If it were calm sunny days the water would settle at night, but that isn’t what is happening.”
Related: Skating rink ready to go
Temperatures are expected to drop a few degrees over the next few days.
“The colder temperatures should let us get the ice back. At this point it’s really wet and the ice maker Terry wants to get it back. By not using it for a few days and the cooler weather, he thinks it’ll be in good shape for Friday,” she said.
An update on the ice condition will be put on social media and the RDOS web page sometime on Thursday night.
A list of free skates will also be put online later this week.
“It’s too bad because we saw that really good week of nice and cold temperatures and then this warm spell has come out of nowhere. We’ll keep evaluating it every day and hopefully it’ll be back going by the weekend,” she said.
Information for when rink open again: Drop-in hockey for all ability levels is available for three age groups: adults (15 and older) Mondays 7 – 8:30 p.m. Mites (5 – 9 year olds) Tuesday’s and Thursdays 6 – 7 p.m. Sticks and pucks (for 9 – 14 year olds) Tuesday and Thursday’s 7- 8:30 p.m.
These age groups are somewhat flexible.
Helmets and neck guards are mandatory. There is hockey protective equipment and helmets available to borrow free of charge at the rink on a first come first serve basis.
To report a typo, email:editor@keremeosreview.com.
@TaraBowieBCeditor@keremeosreview.com