Connecticut river, Fairlee Vermont, 1/10

[Evan Perkins]

Some great news to report before this impending cold snap. The Connecticut river has a thin but very good quality surface for Skating. 

          We skated probably about a mile above the Orford bridge, and then several miles below. The river surface consisted primarily of snow ice which was ranging from 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 inches in thickness. There was thicker 3 inch ice along the sidewalks near shore and surprisingly rimming holes of black ice which range from 2 inch down to zero.

        The surface texture was primarily very good texture ice , With much of it the kind of texture that does not make noise under the skates but provides excellent traction. Also some sections of slush ice with topography and some sections of snow that had not fully wetted out. Also some sections of glass smooth sidewalks which were for the most frozen enough so you did not break through the over ice.

       The major hazards were: open water, there were holes Of Open water, which are likely to become more frequent as you are  heading north from the fairlee bridge. Recently frozen over black ice holes with very thin ice. Anywhere there was snow on the ice, the ice was very thin underneath. There were also some sections where the snow had recently saturated with water and gave the appearance of being the frozen Snow Ice we were traveling on, but was only a half inch thick. Most of these hazards should improve over the next 36 hours of extreme cold. There is supposed to be fairly consistent wind during this time so I expect that there will still be open holes as of Wednesday morning. I think good rules of thumb even for Wednesday morning would be don’t skate over snow, any black ice that has large grain Crystal texture should be tested( The black ice that was present today has a smooth slightly textured surface from the ice storm and should present similarly on Wednesday). Other than that all of the snow ice should be very thick by Wednesday morning as we can reasonably expect 2+ inches of thickening by then. Maybe more. It is certainly possible to skate the river tomorrow although it is predicted to be quite windy and never get above zero

         Today’s river was a study in the power of current under thinning. The fact that we found the thickest ice in the center of the river surrounding week black ice holes was surprising. The general surface of the river was quite thin going down to as little as one and a half inches. My theory on this is that the rims of these holes allowed water up through to soak out the snow quickly during the snow storm a few days ago, while the rest of the river surface was covered with snow which had may be skimmed over (as I think it depressed the ice quite quickly ) leaving a layer of water between the frozen slush Surface and the ice below.  This allowed underthinning to occur unimpeded as the under ice was insulated from the cold above. This also explained why the healed cracks in the river were stronger than the general surface immediately next to them. I have included some pictures below of the beautiful smoky dragon scale pattern that was created by the under thinning of the snow ice around these black holes, this pattern was an indicator of where the thickest ice on the river was.

       Today was one of those wonderful days of ice reading Where you learn a little here , And a little there and then all the sudden a map of travel routes opens up before you indicated by the nuance of color, texture and pattern, my favorite! It was also a day where ice forensics (looking at the ice right in front of you to figure out how it formed )were important. To properly understand the river today it was important to really understand how the features in front of you had formed, skills in ice forensics Were crucial to this process.

         In conclusion I would recommend waiting until Wednesday to skate the river.I think it would be safe to assume that by Wednesday morning it would be possible to skate from Wilder Dam all the way up through Bradford. There will be hazards along the way but I expect most of them will be passable either through careful ice reading or land portages. This represents possibly 35 miles or more of linear ice travel! Given the weather forecast this ice may last until Sunday, or maybe longer if we’re lucky with snow. There is potential for some snow showers this week but they are expected to be light. We scouted the river from above Bradford via vehicle down to the Orford Bridge. We have not seen the ice below East thetford so any additional info about that would be good. 

         

[Martha Cochran]

Wow, Evan!  What detail, and lots of information to remember.  You are doing us all a great service here by scouting...

Questions:  How can you tell when black ice has large grain crystals?

From the picture you show of the person skating along, was that black ice too thin?

Martha 

  

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[Evan Perkins]

Hi Martha. Large Grain crystal pattern generally represents as large triangular formations ranging from a couple inches to several feet simulate  to what you might see in a puddle on your driveway on some days. The ice by that person Skating was probably around 2 1/2 -3 inches,  but as you went to the center of the hole the ice got progressively thinner. I think the main thing is when you are checking those black ice holes check from outside in to see how thick they are with your ice checking pole , and then if there is a texture difference in the thinner ice as opposed to the thicker ice just make note of that so you can visually look for it Later on as you are traveling. If there is no texture difference that you can see easily  and the ice gets progressively thinner, then you need to either check every section of black ice meticulously or just choose to avoid it. 

          Generally when dealing with features like this I’ll check many of them before I feel confident in just Skating over one just because I have identified a texture that I think indicates a certain thickness of supportable ice.

         I hope that clarifies, Evan

[diana hanks]

I definately want to get together for some high speed skating and drafting!

Diana

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 10, 2022, at 7:42 PM, Evan Perkins <evanwpe...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Kristin van der Kloot]

Hi all!

My friends and I wanted to get out on the ice tomorrow. Haven’t been back in VT in about a week so not sure of the state of the ice anymore. I know my dad and I had a few marvelous skates on Lincoln Pond and Dead Creek. Is anyone planning on skating tomorrow anywhere up North? 

Hope to see a few folks out on the ice!

Here’s some magical black ice we had on Dead creek a few weeks ago:

Kristin : )

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[Kristopher Hammer]

Nancy and I want to get on the ice tomorrow too. This cold snap should have improved conditions everywhere. We'd be happy to join folks  anywhere within an hour of Montpelier (Dead Creek, Fiarlee, CT RIver, Mascoma?)

Kris

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[Kristin van der Kloot]

I know Jamie plowed Mascoma so that would be a very safe option, but also very curious to see what Dead Creek looks like now. Not sure with the recent snow…what are everyone’s thoughts? 

[Bob DIll]

There are two rock obstacles that are capable of making a thin spot or hole over flowing.  

More info at 

http://lakeice.squarespace.com/rivers/

Bob

On Jan 11, 2022, at 5:54 PM, Kristin van der Kloot <krvand...@gmail.com> wrote:

I know Jamie plowed Mascoma so that would be a very safe option, but also very curious to see what Dead Creek looks like now. Not sure with the recent snow…what are everyone’s thoughts? 

On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 5:42 PM Kristopher Hammer <kristophe...@gmail.com> wrote:

Nancy and I want to get on the ice tomorrow too. This cold snap should have improved conditions everywhere. We'd be happy to join folks  anywhere within an hour of Montpelier (Dead Creek, Fiarlee, CT RIver, Mascoma?)

Kris

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Kristin van der Kloot <krvand...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 3:03 PM
Subject: Re: [vtnordicskating] Connecticut river, Fairlee Vermont, 1/10
To: diana hanks <cle...@yahoo.com>

Cc: Evan Perkins <evanwpe...@gmail.com>, Martha Cochran <martha....@gmail.com>, <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com>

Hi all!

My friends and I wanted to get out on the ice tomorrow. Haven’t been back in VT in about a week so not sure of the state of the ice anymore. I know my dad and I had a few marvelous skates on Lincoln Pond and Dead Creek. Is anyone planning on skating tomorrow anywhere up North? 

Hope to see a few folks out on the ice!

Here’s some magical black ice we had on Dead creek a few weeks ago:

<IMG_7341.jpeg>

<84C75354-6549-4220-AF2A-A7CDE0186A52.jpeg>

Kristin : )

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[Kristopher Hammer]

Mallets Bay looks pretty nice. Haven't been for a few years. BAyside PArk is a good jumping off place. Depending on conditions, we might be able to make it out onto the larger lake. We have at least one other meeting us there tomorrow, time TBD but given early morning cold, not likely much before 10 am.

Kris

[Matt Steinberg]

Hi,

I plan on skating the Mascoma loop from about 7 to 830 tomorrow am to check conditions and will post a report once I get to work. Hopefully this will help you with your decision.

Matt

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[Carl Etnier]

I’m carpooling with Kris and Nancy. With the wind today, with gusts now in Colchester up to 40 mph now and forecast to be gusting up to 30 mph in the late morning and early afternoon, it would be nice to find somewhere a bit sheltered...

On Jan 11, 2022, at 5:54 PM, Kristin van der Kloot <krvand...@gmail.com> wrote:

I know Jamie plowed Mascoma so that would be a very safe option, but also very curious to see what Dead Creek looks like now. Not sure with the recent snow…what are everyone’s thoughts? 

On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 5:42 PM Kristopher Hammer <kristophe...@gmail.com> wrote:

Nancy and I want to get on the ice tomorrow too. This cold snap should have improved conditions everywhere. We'd be happy to join folks  anywhere within an hour of Montpelier (Dead Creek, Fiarlee, CT RIver, Mascoma?)

Kris

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Kristin van der Kloot <krvand...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 3:03 PM
Subject: Re: [vtnordicskating] Connecticut river, Fairlee Vermont, 1/10
To: diana hanks <cle...@yahoo.com>

Cc: Evan Perkins <evanwpe...@gmail.com>, Martha Cochran <martha....@gmail.com>, <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com>

Hi all!

My friends and I wanted to get out on the ice tomorrow. Haven’t been back in VT in about a week so not sure of the state of the ice anymore. I know my dad and I had a few marvelous skates on Lincoln Pond and Dead Creek. Is anyone planning on skating tomorrow anywhere up North? 

Hope to see a few folks out on the ice!

Here’s some magical black ice we had on Dead creek a few weeks ago:

<IMG_7341.jpeg>

<84C75354-6549-4220-AF2A-A7CDE0186A52.jpeg>

Kristin : )

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vtnordicskating/CAHtc2VdxH-czga51gbTEwRL3QD8jO1jT1BsamLGUBtByOwyzDg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Kristopher Hammer]

Winds are supposed to be dying down a little by afternoon (19 mph at 10 down to 12mph by 1). Maybe we should reconsider an afternoon/early evening/sunset skate. Meet at Mallets Bay at 2? I don't think we find any big expanse of water very protected form the wind but if you dress for it and wear goggles, this shouldn't be too bad.

Kris

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vtnordicskating/2F8A1856-9AF4-450F-B69B-650F86F00BAE%40etnier.net.

[Kevin Boyle]

Some venues are suited for a car on each end and running it downwind. Might be a good day for that. 

Kevin Boyle

Linear Art Studio

518-593-6633

On Jan 12, 2022, at 7:46 AM, Kristopher Hammer <kristophe...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Kristopher Hammer]

Not really an option for Mallets Bay. We're planning to leave Montpelier by 1 and arrive at Mallets Bay by 2. Winds are out of the south so behind our backs on the way out and into a headwind on the way back to Bayshore Park. Now the forecast says winds at 16 mph at 2 pm reducing to 12 mph by sunset.

Kris

[Tom Duca]

***WIND DANGER-

Always be very aware and careful on high wind days!!  

Wind can destroy ice literally in minutes. 

I have personally experienced this on more than one occasion. 

The greatest danger is the wind blowing over the ice towards any open area.  

Enjoy, be safe. 

Tom d. 

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[Martha Cochran]

We just got off Conn. River at 4:30.  Left from Wilson's Landing.  Headed north to the Thetford Bridge.  Turned around there because it was

a little thin (two pokes) and was getting a little late.  Ice thickness varied from 2 to 4 inches as Evan said.  It varied in quality from 6.5 - 9.5.  Some

really nice stretches, esp. to west of the island between the Ompompanoosuc and Thetford Bridge.  Definitely worth doing.  There was basically no

wind!   The darker stretches with black ice were smoothest, but remember that just north of the island on the VT side is always thinner so avoid that

outside curve.  (stay to the NH side and grey ice on that stretch). 

Martha and Peter

[Kristopher Hammer]

Awesome ice on Mallets Bay today. Solid 4" everywhere, some stretches in the northeastern most cove like glass but mostly an "avocado" textured black ice. Mostly blown clear of snow and what little there was you could skate through. It was 27 degrees when we got off the ice at 3:30 but pretty windy so it felt a lot colder. Stayed mostly along the eastern shore and didn't make it to the outer bay. Should be great for the next few days especially if it warms up a bit.

Kris

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[diana hanks]

They just changed our weather forecast to horrible. Freezing rain tonight followed by snow, and then snow showers all day Thursday, and snow all day Friday. Probably it won’t be enough to make skiing worth while, but that mix will texture the ice even more and a couple of inches of snow isn’t going to blow off very well. I am pissed!  We had a great forecast for skating the next few days!

I hope they are as wrong about this as they were about clear cold weather just yesterday.

Diana

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 12, 2022, at 6:33 PM, Kristopher Hammer <kristophe...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Francine Cohen]

Diane, Are you reading the right day? Tomorrow in the Burlington area no snow until late evening. 

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