End of Season Wrap-up Pics in separate mail

[Matt Steinberg]

Hello Everyone,

While I am not ready to give up yet with several high altitude outings as well as a trip up to the hinterlands of Quebec near the end of the month, the sight of boats on the wide open lakes and the rapid degradation overnight of the ice Jamie and I skated on yesterday morning means that for all intents and purposes, the skating season is coming to an end. I think that now when at least some of you out there are still engaged and not dreaming of the inevitable heat, humidity, and bugs headed our way, is an appropriate time to do a seasonal wrap up. I think we can all agree that this has been an epic season, one for the (modern) ages. Early black ice and late snowfall made for many incredible adventures. Being of German descent and more than slightly insane, or so I have been told, I am a bit obsessed with numbers and overanalysis of everything. That said, I am approaching a personal record season. My first skate was my earliest yet on Oct 29 and I am still going into mid April. I have skated 63 days on 37 different bodies of water and 1,058.4 miles thus far. If I can reach 1,100 and / or April 15, those will both be records. I know many of you have logged an impressive amount of skating this year and for those of you who are just getting into the sport, what a year to get started.

There have been many highlights this year. Perhaps the tops of my list was the glorious Lake George emerging from a long skating slumber and treating us to several days of incredible black ice in impeccable scenery and bluebird skies and sunshine. What a long awaited treat. On the other side of New England, long sleeping Sebago did its best to counter Lake George with a seemingly endless two weeks of black ice outings. There were many skates on the usual big lake targets such as Winne, Newfound, and Champlain, all three of which at various times treated us to many incredible outings on peerless black ice. A few lucky Mainers even made it out on salt water for the first time in living memory. Long Lake in Maine was a star for me, putting on a visual feast for three days as the flawless black ice matched with stunning sunrises and sunsets and puffy white clouds, all reflecting without blemish in views that brought me to my knees. I even had the opportunity to skate this lake under the light of the full moon. And of course on the East's highest lake, the surreal vision of my friend and her graceful figure skating  juxtaposed with the stark and bleak beauty of Lake of the Clouds on Mount Washington.

To my partners in crime, you can now relax a little as you will get a break from the endless late night text messages and calls cajoling you to get up in the middle of the night and drive hours to a venue with the possibility of finding something amazing. To the many dozens of others I skated with or crossed paths with this winter from northern Maine to northern New York, It was wonderful to see you out there. Last year while at Flagstaff Lake in Maine, Evan told me he thought we lived in perhaps the best place in the world for nordic skating. I agree. Alaska has the Instagram scenery and glaciers but they often cannot skate nearly as much there due to vagaries in weather, distance and access issues, etc.  Scandanavia has history and tradition and when it's good it's very good but their season becomes more unpredictable each year. We appear right now to be in the Goldilocks zone for nordic skating and hopefully that lasts for many years to come. Perhaps more important than the conditions though, it is our community that really makes this the best place to practice our sport. We are truly blessed to have such a vibrant, engaged community of skaters who are so committed to growing the sport that Jamie spearheaded decades ago. So many new people were reporting this year and we had several examples of how something as simple as a photograph from a passing car or someone's back porch or a quick poke of the ice could lead to the enjoyment of so many people on the ice that otherwise would not have been possible. I hope this only continues to grow in the coming years. 

This year also saw the formation of a group of experienced skaters with the goal of creating  and formalizing training materials that were previously lacking. The hope is that these materials  will work to educate and empower people to grow and become more confident in practicing the sport and introducing it to others and the community at large. This will also serve to normalize nordic skating in the view of the public and first responders and hopefully promote a culture of safety. I did one ice extraction and rescue training this year and hope to do multiple per year in the seasons to come. I see so many more people out now wearing helmets than just a few years ago. I am honored to be part of this group although I am still behind the deadline on some of my work, so hopefully I can complete it this summer when there is no ice to compete with it for my attention.  

As the summer draws near and we soon are sweating in the New England steambath swatting at the bugs, I will look forward to the time in late Sept where my stomach fills with butterflies in anticipation and I start dreaming of the coming ice season, planning for my first high altitude outing. Soon after,  the black ice will start to form in the familiar spots and  everyone will pull out their gear and our nordic skating family will reunite once again as the beauty of winter unfolds before us. Have a great summer Everyone and I will see you out on the ice soon. I have attempted to embed a few favorite pics from this past season. 

Matt

[Richard Behr]

Matt,

Thanks for the wonderful message.  Ice is magical stuff.

Richard S. Behr

 

207-441-0678

Specializing in Drift Trips on Maine's 

Premier Smallmouth Bass Rivers

www.threeriversguideservice.biz

22 Trisha Lane

Vassalboro, Maine 04989

 

 

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[Géraldine Vatán]

Hi Matt and everyone!

I have been following this thread for two full seasons, drooling over pictures and videos, swearing to myself last fall that this season I would get geared up and try it. Well I got too busy and still have to connect to a posse to really get going. 2025 will be the year I gear up and get out there!
Is this community planning a potluck to connect in real life, welcome new skaters into the fray, maybe after a training for safety and info session about gear and the like, and a first skate of the season with side fun hockey or what not for families?

Just an idea!

Thank you Matt for sharing this wrap up, I read it with awe and delight!

Cheers,
Géraldine
In Montpelier

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[jdev...@together.net]

Matt,

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for Nordic skating. Besides your many miles on skates. you must have driven  many miles in your car. Indeed, our area offers many attractive skating opportunities. You prod me to saunter a bit on memory lane.

Secretly, I thought I held a few records; you broke them. Years ago, 2010?, Ruud Vekemans and I skated on November 7 on Sterling Pond. My second imagined record was distance skated over my lifetime. I learned to skate in 1938 in front of my grandparents’ house on an Amsterdam canal. They fastened wooden skates to my little feet, gave me a stool to hold on to and left me alone.

By virtue of my birth year, 1933, I might be the only living person who skated the 200 K Dutch 11-city tour four times. The last one was in 1997. Here I describe why I did not participate in that last one  

By skating more than thousand miles in one season, you broke many distance records.

You mention the camaraderie of wild skating. I experienced that as the main difference between skating in Holland and skating in Vermont. In Holland, skating is often a social activity, almost like ballroom dancing. Many lifelong relationships started on the ice. Here, I found the solitude exciting.  It is exhilarating to be all alone in the middle of Lake Champlain, in an endless amphitheater formed by the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains. That difference triggered this Google Group. It started as a Yahoo list serve in 2008.  Phyl Newbeck and I were driving back from Lake Carmi and said to each other “Vermonters do not know what they are missing. We should tell them“ . Now this group has more than 800 participants and adjacent states also maintain Nordic skating groups.

You mentioned Jamie Hess. He introduced me to ice picks and poles and showed me that one can simply step over a crack of open water.  

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[Alexander Setzko]

Matt,

Thanks for this beautifully phrased summary of the season. Wow. A true pleasure to read, as I am still mourning the departure of winter in the northeast. It was the best winter in recent memory. I skated more than I have in many years (though far fewer miles than you!). Even well into February, there was good ice as far south in New York as Fahnestock and Harriman state parks.

I only discovered these Google groups recently. What a fantastic community and resource, especially for those of us who have skated solo most of our lives. 

I'm grateful to all for your knowledge and enthusiasm. Already looking forward to next season.

~Alexander

Greenpoint, NY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexander Setzko

@atsetzko

Portfolio website

LinkedIn profile

On Sat, Apr 12, 2025 at 1:53 PM Matt Steinberg <fios...@gmail.com> wrote:

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