North of the bridge 2/6

[Kevin Boyle]

There was a moderate North wind on LG so I was very surprised to see a substantial new plate had formed as I made the turn onto our road late yesterday. Given today’s expected snowfall I decided to wait on the scouting mission. There’s supposed to be a strong south wind which could keep the snow clear but could also break up the ice. I’ll know more tomorrow. Hopefully there’s a path forward here.

Kevin Boyle
Linear Art Studio
518-593-6633

[Doug Merrill]

I assume you are talking about Lake Champlain 'North of the Bridge'.   Yes, the broad lake was locked up yesterday, at least up to the end of Shelburne Point.  I scouted (by road) to the end of Shelburne Point and found ice out to Juniper Island and all the way across to the 4 brothers islands (as far as I could see).  The plate may continue North, all the way to South Hero (and Canada!), but I couldn't see North of Juniper, so I don't know.   I believe it locked up Tuesday night, so it's only 1 day old, and thus not nearly thick enough for skating yet.   But last night was quite cold, we'll see how much snow we get today.   

I did check the ice at the South end of Shelburne Bay.  I measured 2.5-3" of ice.   It is fairly black, with a very textured surface.   This plate should extend 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up the bay.   The Northern 2/3 came in several days later, and is likely not as thick.   The Southern third looks skateable, there is a good sized band of snow and chunky ice to navigate before you get to the smooth plate when coming from the fishing access.   The ice does not look anywhere near as good as the photos I've seen of the Inland Sea or Lake George.   But if you are local and want a quick fix, it may be worth checking out.   Not that I tested the plate on the East shore, about 100' from shore and have not gotten out and covered any distance.  I have seen no evidence of anyone else skating or scouting it either.  So if you do decide to check it out, proceed cautiously, as you may be the first.

Doug

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[Tom Duca]

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[Evan Perkins]

This is great news, let's hope it survives the storm one way or the other. What would be really helpful if others could report this afternoon after the snow stops from other areas in the lake.. Anywhere from Westport North to Plattsburgh on the New York side, And from Shelburne North to South Hero on the Vermont side . there are three pieces of information that will be super valuable. What part of the lake are you seeing and is it frozen? did the snow blow all or partially off in today's windy conditions? and did freezing rainf on the ice . If freezing rain fell on snow that's on top of the ice that's not good but if it falls on bare ice, that's fine. Any reports from this afternoon would be good. This will allow scouts to know where to go and where not to go tomorrow to see how the Ice survived the storm today and is surviving wind. they will only be a one day window to skate this ice before snow comes in Saturday night so the more help we have figuring out where to look the more reports can get out there so that people can know where to go on Saturday and how thick the ice is in given locations. Reports of open water on the lake are particularly important as water somewhere. Can affect ice many miles away from a safety perspective. Thanks everybody, look forward to hearing what you find. Evan.

On Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 8:11 AM Kevin Boyle <southern...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Nick vanderKloot]

The broad lake in Charlotte is still wide open water; at least on the East side. Because of the snow, which is still falling, I cannot see the other side of the lake.

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[Kevin Boyle]

There was a very clear sentinel image taken yesterday of the northern portion of Champlain. I see “newer” plates approaching the Cumberland head ferry landing, west of valcour island and a couple of other places. Really fresh ice can look similar to water in my experience. Visual scouting is always good. I am heading to Essex tomorrow and will report after I arrive what it’s like from our house through NW bay in Westport. 

Kevin Boyle

Linear Art Studio

518-593-6633

On Feb 6, 2025, at 2:11 PM, Nick vanderKloot <vande...@aol.com> wrote:



[Doug Merrill]

Interesting.   From that image it looks like the broad lake West of Shelburne Point was still open when the image was made.   I can attest that at 4:30PM yesterday, it was completely frozen all the way to Four Brothers Islands and Juniper Island.  Its possible that it froze over during the day, although in my experience that is rare.   Or it was thin and new enough that it, as Kevin suggested, still looks like open water.   

Doug

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[JoAnn Berns]

I put this together organizing Evan's questions to help my non-skating people in the Champlain area tell us about lake conditions.  Please feel free to cut, paste & forward to your people, too, and report back to us.  :)

<< What would be really helpful is if people could report this afternoon after the snow stops.  This will allow scouts to know where to go tomorrow to see how the ice survived today's storm and wind. 

All reports welcome, but especially anywhere from Westport north to Plattsburgh on the New York side, and from Shelburne north to South Hero on the Vermont side.

There are three pieces of information that will be super valuable:

-What part of the lake are you seeing and is it frozen? 

-Did the snow blow all or partially off in today's windy conditions? 

-Did freezing rain fall on the ice?  Or on snow?

Reports of open water on the lake are particularly important, as open water in one area can affect the safety of ice miles away. 

Saturday will be the only window to skate this ice before snow comes in that night so the more help we have figuring out where to look, so people can know where to go on Saturday and how thick the ice is in given location, the better. >>

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From: adknordi...@googlegroups.com <adknordi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Evan Perkins <evanwpe...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 6, 2025 1:52 PM
To: Kevin Boyle <southern...@gmail.com>
Cc: ADKNordicSkating <adknordi...@googlegroups.com>; VTNordicskating <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: North of the bridge 2/6

 

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From: adknordi...@googlegroups.com <adknordi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Evan Perkins <evanwpe...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 6, 2025 1:52 PM
To: Kevin Boyle <southern...@gmail.com>
Cc: ADKNordicSkating <adknordi...@googlegroups.com>; VTNordicskating <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: North of the bridge 2/6

 

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[Evan Perkins]

The first day of new Ice, as Kevin said is often hard to read, particularly if it formed when it was calm and there are no frost feathers on it. There have been many times when whole big bodies of water have frozen, and I have viewed them, but on that same day sentinel image it shows up as open water. generally once Ice has been around for a couple days it's always pretty easy to see via satellite but on day one can be very hard .

[Doug Merrill]

From Shelburne Bay, things don't look good for skaters.  The Bay is still frozen, but has 3-5" of snow across it.  No open lanes that I can see at all.   North of Shelburne Bay the ice that formed Wednesday morning is gone, it is open water from Shelburne Point up to Burlington/Appletree point, which is as far as I can see.   Hopefully other parts of the lake fared better.

Doug

On Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 5:55 PM Elizabeth Lee <lakesi...@gmail.com> wrote:

I live across from the boat launch in Westport and look east to Button Island. This afternoon it was getting dark but there was open water across NW Bay as far as I could see. Lots of steam cooling the water. No visible ice surface to hold the snowfall. I’ll check in the AM.

Elizabeth Lee

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[Nick vanderKloot]

Same for the Broad lake viewed from Charlotte all the way across . I see only wide open water with strong winds and white caps on the waves.