Global Warming and Covid Business Scenario
Weather Assessment
- Covid-19 Business Scenario
If the Province of Manitoba deems organized outdoor events are not safe due to Covid-19 environment then our event is postponed or cancelled. We support all efforts to keep all humans safe during a world wide pandemic. Pandemics are a part of life on this planet and long term strategy to mitigate risk is everyone’s responsibility. Similar to our Global Warming business scenario, we would notify all curlers, volunteers and 3rd party groups that our event is postponed or cancelled. We will refund all registrations fees less service charges. Our event is outdoors in the fresh air under sunlight with ample space to be safe distances apart that as a committee we have done our best to address this risk. Part of the culture and specialty of Ironman curling is being outside and healthy exercise for the body and mind.
- Global Warming Business Scenario
In the past the winter weather in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada has been very warm. So warm that as a committee we have done our best to address this risk. Part of the culture and specialty of Ironman curling is being outside, and hopefully also somewhere on the river. We have been blessed that the warm weather has not yet stopped our outdoor curling.
We have looked at a number of options to approach the change in weather over the years.
Outdoor Option: To address this risk we have attempted to talk to owners of many outside venues to find an alternative location. This would allow us to still be outside but on land, however over the years we have been unable to find a location that meets our requirements. Part of the challenge is that even if we were on the land, we need more time to prepare curling ice because the land is probably not perfectly flat, it has no existing built up ice, and there is no easy access to water for flooding, so we would need to make the ice from scratch and overcome these obstacles.
Also, we are a very small group of volunteers so we don’t have the resources to make a secondary land ice location from scratch for 2 to 3 weeks prior to the event as a backup plan, and also make the primary river ice location in parallel. However, if we knew in advance that the river ice location was not going to work for us, and we committed to just the land location in advance, then it might be possible to concentrate our efforts into just making ice on land, assuming we had a suitable location with water access.
Indoor Option: We have also attempted to find an indoor location with pre-made Curling or hockey rinks. Due to the time of the year, the curling clubs we talked to don’t have any free ice. If you know a curling club that would welcome 250 to 400 curlers and all the free publicity on the first full weekend in February, please let us know.
Postponed Option: If necessary we will postpone for another weekend. Due to our volunteer commitment and to respect our curlers this is challenging option. For example, in 2021 we postponed by one week.
If weather makes the conditions unsafe or unplayable we will refund everyone, less admin fees for processing transactions. This fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation and Hope worldwide Canada. We invite teams to considering still making a donation and they will receive a tax receipt for the amount donated. We appreciate everyone’s understanding on this potential scenario. If you belong to an organization that can help us address an alternative location we are open to working with you to continue.
Think about it for a minute. If no winter sports were invented yet and were being invented today, those sports may not have been created in 2017 due to the weather conditions that year, or at least they wouldn’t be as popular. If we had to cancel for one year, we would look at our situation and resources to determine if we can host again the following winter. If we were forced to cancel for a second year that would probably be the end.
We want all of our stakeholders: curlers, sponsors, volunteers, Heart & Stroke Foundation and partners to have a good understanding of the challenges we face. We appreciate that everyone puts their trust in us to put on this amazing event. We will continue to work hard to make this a reality. Thank you to everyone for their amazing support.
If you have any questions, recommendations for a secondary location, or any concerns, please let us know at Info@IronmanCurling.com
Respectfully,
Michael Thompson
Director