For those fans of warm weather, the recent temperatures thawing out the snow are welcome. However, for those winter sports athletes, the mercury rising is cutting their seasons short.

The Yukon Broomball Association's (YBA) playoffs began on Monday but were unable to continue after the rink melted, revealing the concrete below.

The games Monday were a wet affair as the teams battled through slushy conditions, giving the appearance that the players were running on oil.

On Tuesday, the games were cancelled. After a valiant attempt to freeze the rink to the point it was safe to play on Wednesday had no effect, the playoffs have been cancelled.

According to YBA scheduler Craig Brooks, the rink melting had happened three years ago. He said the YBA is at the mercy of the weather because the rink is outside.

"This year, we had five days where it was too cold to play; we call it a freeze-out," said Brooks. "That's unusual. We play outdoors, one of the few broomball leagues in Canada that plays outdoors. We are at the mercy of the weather. But we have our own facility and that's a pro."

Brooks said the YBA had put an extra flood on the rink.

"There is a concrete base underneath that holds the cold," said Brooks. "The extra flood helps, and I'm glad we did that in the last couple of weeks in the season or we wouldn't have gotten this far.

"It's OK if it gets above zero during the day as long as it's below zero at night so it freezes solid because we have a covered rink. For this water to freeze, we need at least minus-5 C."

There is no immediate plan on how to finish the playoffs but there is a tournament in Haines Junction which is indoors, so the broomball players will get at least one more chance to play.

Along with the broomball rink, the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club has announced that is now closed.

"The trails are really icy and bare," said the club’s Jan Polivka. "The trails are closed now."

One of the contributing factors in closing the trails now is skier safety.

"It is not safe conditions," said Polivka. "At this point, we are losing snow quickly and there are a lot of bare spots. It is not safe for grooming equipment. It is a liability. We must provide safe conditions."

Polivka said the season has ended about two weeks earlier than usual.

"Our programming is close to an end; usually we end them before spring break," said Polivka. "Last year, our last groom was on April 27. Usually, a normal season ends around April 10. This is the earliest people remember the season ending."

Polivka said the members are understanding if not a little disappointed.

"The season was a month shorter because we had low snow early," said Polivka. "It is a little disappointing. March is usually a good time to ski."

Over the last six years, Polivka noted, global warming has been providing extremes in the weather.

"We have been getting the extremes of either a really long season or a really short season," he said.

According to the seven-day forecast, the positive temperatures will be continuing well into next week.