CELPIP Listening Part 4 Practice Test: Skating Through the Trees

NARRATOR: A forest skating trail in the hills above Nelson, British Columbia, has turned a quiet stretch of woods into one of the busiest places in town this winter. The loop, roughly a kilometre long, winds between cedar and birch trees on land owned by a local family, who offered it to the community after the town's outdoor rink was closed for repairs. Volunteers led by retired electrician Fern Wallace spent three weeks clearing brush, levelling the path and flooding it, layer by layer, with water pumped from a nearby creek. Most of that work happened after midnight, when temperatures dropped low enough for the water to freeze evenly. The trail is free to use, although a donation box at the entrance helps cover fuel for the pump. Organizers say the response has been overwhelming. On weekends, cars have lined the narrow access road, prompting complaints from neighbours who could not get out of their driveways. A shuttle bus now runs from the community centre on Saturdays and Sundays, and parking along the road has been restricted. Wallace says the next challenge is the weather, since a single rainy week could ruin the surface. For now, though, she says she is simply delighted to hear children laughing in the forest.