Rowing is absolutely not an option right now in Winnipeg.  They are driving trucks on the river, it is frozen so hard.  But don’t despair.  As much as we might live to row, there is something quite magical about winter.  When you can’t row you can:

• Cross-country ski – we have hundreds of km of groomed trails within a few hour’s drive of the city and night time skiing right in the city.  Skiing is the perfect winter training for rowing.  Let’s stride and glide …
• Become a voyageur.  Festival du Voyageur is a huge celebration of winter and the French and Métis culture in Manitoba.  In 2019 Festival celebrates 50 years. Over two weeks of fun, you can meet Fort Gibraltar”s historical character, admire snow sculptures created by international artists, dance to lively music, taste delicious French-Canadian food and And generally celebrate winter. HéHo!
• Brave the elements on your bike. A few years ago Winnipeg hosted the International Winter Cycling Congress and now snow bikes or fat bikes are seen more and more, with special trails in a nearby provincial park. Bundle up!
• Stay inside, drink Fort Garry Ale, and cheer for the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg is hockey mad – get ready for a white-out!
• Winnipeg Rowing Club had a winter training program involving “snow quidditch“.  Curious?
• Best of all, get out on the water, even if it is frozen.  Winnipeg is famous for the world’s longest skating rink.  Architects from around the world compete in our annual warming hut competition , featured in the photos below.  Weird, wacky and often delightful, who would have thought that this was part of the river scene.  We also have pop-up restaurants, serving breakfast and dinners right on the ice.  Sidle in on your skates to the coolest restaurant in Winnipeg  35 chefs from around the globe are coming to cook on the ice – sorry reservations already sold out.
• Apparently the Finns have mastered rowing on ice, something that we have yet to see on the Red River: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZfDWukFh9I

Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that we can’t row right now -even if these photos were taken when the temperature with the wind chill was -30^oC.