The outdoor rink at Lac Le Jeune. (Image Credit: Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association)
New Outdoor Rink

New outdoor rink opens at Lac Le Jeune near Kamloops

Dec 22, 2024 | 10:17 AM

KAMLOOPS — Volunteers with the Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association have built a new rink at Lac Le Jeune.

It’s located about 15 minutes south of Inks Lake, where the association has maintained an outdoor rink in past winters.

Nancy Bepple with the Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association says they had to move to a new location because of poor conditions at Inks Lake.

“We were looking for a place that had consistent ice, and actually Inks Lake right now has no ice on it,” Bepple told CFJC Today. “Lac Le Jeune is a good location, its easy to get to.”

“We needed the ice to be thick so that we could put the quad on it, and then you have to scrape it down with shovels because a quad with a blade means its not smooth enough for skating, and so we went back and forth with shovels to smoothen the ice.”

Bepple says it took about five hours to clear off an area of Lac Le Jeune that is slightly larger than a regulation hockey rink.

“We decided not to do an oval this time, but it is a super large area so there are places for people to play a little shinny, and there are places for people to skate,” she said. “It should be able to accommodate quite a few different people all at the same time.”

Bepple says people can access the new outdoor rink via the little bridge that is just south of Lac Le Jeune Resort.

“It’s not going to be perfect ice like inside because its beautiful ice because its outside,” Bepple said.

“All we ask is when people go up again is that they take a shovel and they take a few passes because you need to keep grooming the ice.”

Volunteers clearing the snow off Lac Le Jeune to create the new skating rink. (Image Credit: Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association)