Never mind the ice, keep rowing

Ice canoers need grips on their shoes

Winter training, a time when elite rowers from Scandinavia and Canada head for sunny Spain or switch to cross country skis. A time when the British work out at altitude in the Alps of Switzerland. This is when the Americans head south to warmer waters. But what about staying at home, retrofitting the oars with crampons and trying a spot of ice canoeing?

Based in Canada the sport has a small but dedicated following of hardy souls that strap ice crampons to their feet and oars to race over the frozen province of Quebec.

Teams of five use a 120 kg surf-type boat which is still being developed to best suit racing conditions. Ice rowing enthusiast Eric Fraser says there is currently developments in the seats with a variety from slippery to moving tracks.

The race distance varies between two and five kilometers and can be any kind of mixture of open water rowing and ice rowing. The ice rowing technique involves anchoring the oar blade into the ice using its attached crampon. When this proves too slow in thick ice the team store their oars and then position themselves with one leg outside the boat pushing the boat forward in an action called ‘scootering’.

?Speeds of up to 30 km per hour have been recorded,? says Fraser.

Each boat has a navigator, a skipper and someone steering, but depending on the conditions, roles can vary as sometimes all five team members will have to help with the steering. Knowledge of the best route to take is key and also the ability to turn around targets.

Then there is the noise. ?The noise generated by the ice and hull impacts is so high that normal conversation in the boat is impossible. It is so loud that the navigator (front man) must yell the steering information to the rear men, whom in turn yell it to the skipper,? describes Fraser. ?You have to yell the commands at your partner to be heard.?

Fraser says the ice canoe rowers have to adapt to environmental variations. ?In any given race, you have no idea what to expect, the environment is so different every few metres,? says Fraser. ?No single competitor has the same course as the next. Everyone has their own course.?

But, admits Fraser, the hardest part of the race goes on along the sidelines. ?For the audience to stand and watch it in the cold,? says Fraser.

The history of ?canoers? dates back to when it was a taxi service profession used for taking people and goods back and forth from the ?winter locked’ islands near Quebec City. The growth of transportation infrastructure large commercial boats took over the canoers role.

?Eventually, the job died out, but not without its glory days when family reputation was built upon heroic deeds,? describes Fraser. ?Numerous stories abound of ice canoers rescuing islanders of certain frozen deaths.?

Now a recreational pursuit Quebec hosts a number of races with the next one scheduled for 27 ? 28 January. Further information can be found at: www.canotaglace.org