WINTER SPORTS AREA

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24742, 6 December 1945, Page 6

WINTER SPORTS AREA

DEVELOPMENT OF LAKE IDA DEPUTATION TO PROGRESS LEAGUE

Support in seeking, the construction of a °" d ß e across the Ryton" river as one of the first steps in the possible development of Lake Ida, near Lake Coleridge, as a winter sports area was promised by the Canterbury Progress League's executive last evening to a (reputation, comprising Mr T. H. Stone and Mr O. P. Bayley. who advocated Ihe advantages of such a project Mr Stone said that Lake Ida had not been used for organised skating since the 1860's until the Wind-* whistle Winter Sports Club used it in recent years. The lake was about 80 miles jiue west from Christchurch, just off the Harper diversion road and about two miles at the back of- Lake Selfe. It was shaded by Mount Ida, carried up to a foot of ice in the wihte could take about 2000 skaters. The area of Lake Ida was about 30 acres, fnd that of the adjoining lake, Little Ida, which . had been formed after an avalanche in 1938,' about six acres. The lake would be ideal for ice-yachting, curling, and skating. At present the Ryton river was .an obstacle which should be bridged Later u a syndicate were formed, it might be possible to push for a two-miles road into the lake, itself. The ice season there lasted from early in June to about the end of August, and if a company was formed the season could be extended to a full 12 weeks by care and treatment of the ice. If a hostel _ were erected it would be of value in the other nine months of the year also, as the area possessed excellent scenic qualities and would also be popular for deer and small-game shooting. Mr Stone said that if an artificial nnk were built in Christchurch and Lake Ida developed as a winter sports area there would be nothing to stop Christchurch and Canterbury being among the. foremost winter sports areas in the southern hemisphere He ?s°£s that had cities like Auckland or Wellington possessed a lake with such potentialities m such a climate they would have acted long since, it was time Christchurch did. Mr Bayley. a former New Zealand champion skater, supported Mr Stone's remarks and advocated strongly the advantages of establishing a glaciarium,. preferably outdoor, in the city. It: was stated by members of the league that a bridge across the Ryton river was'among departmental proposals, and that the executive could ask that its construction be expedited.