Originally a means of winter transport between the islands and shores of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

, ice canoeing is now a sport. Crews of five athletes alternately push their canoe across the ice on the frozen parts of the river, and paddle in a river with currents of four knots, tides of over 15 feet, and ice blocks weighing a few tonnes blown by the wind. Shoes with bolts screwed to the bottom are worn to keep their traction on the ice.

History

Ice canoeing has been practiced since the beginnings of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

in the 1600s, as the only way to cross the

when there is too much ice for ferries, but not enough to form an

ice bridge An ice bridge is a frozen natural structure formed over seas, bays, rivers or lake surfaces. They facilitate migration of animals or people over a water body that was previously uncrossable by terrestrial animals, including humans. The most sig ...

. In the 1860s more than 200 canoers, mostly at Lévis provided transportation for passengers and goods. Ice canoeing was practiced in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

from the early 1800s. The advent of steamboats capable of breaking through the ice put an end to icecanoeing as a means of transportation in the late 1800s. In 1894, the first race was organised between Lévis and the

Port of Quebec The Port of Quebec (french: Port de Québec) is an inland port located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest port in Canada, and the second largest in Quebec after the Port of Montreal. History In the 19th century, the Port of Quebec ...

at the first

Quebec Winter Carnival The Quebec Winter Carnival (french: Carnaval de Québec), commonly known in both English and French as Carnaval, is a pre-Lenten festival held in Quebec City. After being held intermittently since 1894, the ''Carnaval de Québec'' has been celeb ...

. In Montreal races were held during the Fête des Neiges de Montréal from 1988 to 1992. In 2013, Héritage Maritime Canada relaunched the race as the Défi canot à glace Bota Bota. Since the 1990s races have also been held at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, Gatineau,

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

and the Isle-aux-Coudres. Women have competed since 1987.

Competition

The Association des Coureurs en Canot à Glace du Québec (ACCGQ) was formed in 1984 to organise and standardise races. Six races are accredited by the ACCGQ: La Grande Traversée Casino de Charlevoix, La Course en canot du Carnaval, La course de la banquise de Portneuf, Trois-Rivières Extrême, le Défi Canot à Glace Montréal, and le Grand Défi des Glaces. The latter is the biggest event. It is run during the

, at

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

every February. More than 40 teams compete, struggling with the powerful current, large chunks of ice and cold water. The Quebec City area is the centre of ice canoeing activity, but there are teams elsewhere in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. A crew from Calgary has competed in the race for at least 41 years. The race has also seen teams from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Athletes compete in three classes: elite men, elite women, and sport, the latter comprising crews of men, and crews of mixed men and women. Originally wooden, canoes are now made with epoxy and

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

with an internal metal frame. The minimum weight of a canoe is for the sport and elite men classes, and for elite women. The length of the boat must be between and . Boats must contain 100 litres of flotation material, and it must be possible to float the boat with 700 litres of water on board. Canoes must be brightly-coloured and not painted white.

References

External links

*
Ice Canoe Racing Association
*
Quebec Winter Carnival
{Dead link, date=January 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Canoeing disciplines Sports in Canada