Big Lake Skating Query

[kittyw...@gmail.com]

Hi friends,

I was wondering yesterday about what makes big lake skating a different beast and the different knowledge and experience required for it. So I thought I’d ask here and see how the conversation unfolds and what collective wisdom I and others can gather from it.

I know that wind and weather play bigger factors as do things like pressure ridges. Then there’s the part about being so much farther from emergency medicine should anything go sideways.

What else?

Many thanks!
Kitty

Sent from my iPhone

[Laura Bonk]

Hello Kitty -

Nice to meet you on the Great Lake Champlain.  

As a pond skater as a child, the biggest differences now are pressure ridges and variable ice thickness and wind.  On the big lakes, pressure ridges  come and go...how many times have we crossed a pressure ridge at the end of the day that wasn't there when we started out?  I had skated a lot growing up but I  never saw a pressure ridge until I got on a big lake. 

There are a lot of small ponds that people hike into that are far from emergency medical services.  

Just my two cents. 

Great to see so many people on the ice.. the young hockey players with the campfire on the ice, was a special treat. 

Happy Skating, 

Laura 

Laura M. Bonk, MS, MBA
Certified Safety Professional

PO Box 194
Suncook, NH 03275
(603) 340-3524

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[Lola Houston]

I guess one thing that I would add that may not always be obvious is the possibility of physical injury that’s not due to the skating. Quite simply, a serious fall on the ice can be a really huge problem. There was a report here quite a few years ago from a large experienced group that had an injury like that far out on the ice, and they had to do some really quick thinking to improvise a way to carry the person back to shore. At that point, there was an additional complication with gaining access to the vehicle of the injured person. It all worked out OK, but it was a reminder that it’s not just plurring or getting lost or something directly relating to the skating process.

By contrast, skating and small spaces, say an ice rink, or even the sea caves, getting to needed help is a far far simpler process.

Lola
El-oh-el-ay


> On Jan 3, 2026, at 6:17 PM, kittyw...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Hi friends,

[Evan Perkins]

     Beyond what has been noted before about pressure ridges, wind and its effect on large pieces of ice are just different on big lakes, there have been instances where big lakes completely frozen but under 6 inches thick under really strong winds have completely blown out. Also on a big lake if there is open water anywhere there is potential for the whole ice pack to move, that open water could be 20 miles from you and you could have no idea about it and then the whole ice pack of the lake can move and break up.

      There are also conditions on big lakes where enough pressure ridging can happen under certain ice thicknesses that you could be completely trapped out there, unable to cross any ridges. Unless you are willing to swim the open leads. Big lakes are the only places where there have been mass casualty instances on the ice as well as extensive rescue operations that avoided casualties, such as happened on Lake Champlain many years ago when I believe 50 (approximately, someone out there will have the accurate story )people were blown out into the Broad Lake and had to be rescued by helicopters over multiple missions. These folks were ice fishing.

     There is also the issue of a large lake having mostly thick ice, but maybe a section of it has thinner ice, wind can affect the thicker ice and cause the thinner ice to break up as it is pushed against Shore therefore moving the whole ice pack on a lake that was otherwise completely frozen. Whenever a whole ice pack moves, it has the possibility of trapping people or of being broken up and disappearing.

      These are just some examples of the dangers of being out on a large lake, and the importance to pay careful attention to weather,wind  Ice thickness and temperature.

    I do think as mentioned above probably one of the greatest dangers for most folks is just how far you can get from your car, and how long a rescue would actually take particularly if you are on relatively thin ice that the local rescue service is not comfortable crossing without specialized equipment. 

      Evan

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[Kitty Bartlett]

Laura, Lola and Evan,

Thanks so much for your answers. Excellent information that is much appreciated!

Re: the plates, another thing you are assessing before you go out is how locked in a body of water is, the wind speed and which was it is blowing to determine the risks of an ice pack being broken up or blown out, correct?

Trying to build up my knowledge base of what to be assessing in different skating scenarios.

Many thanks!

Kitty

[Matt Steinberg]

Hi Kitty 

Bob had some good info on his lake ice website that provides a good summary of the general things already discussed here. Here is a link to his "big ice" discussion.

http://lakeice.squarespace.com/big-ice/

Matt

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[Tom Duca]

I was personally a witness in Essex, NY, on Feb. 22, 1988 when 27 people who were ice fishing on the Vt side of the lake were rescued by two helicopters in two trips as tremendous winds broke up a totally frozen lake that was almost 12” thick.  The fact that no lives were lost was a miracle. The first helicopter had women and children. The second had older men. The third had middle aged men and the last had all the guys in their 20s and 30s.  Those last young guys got out of the helicopter and literally kissed the frozen ground at Beggs Park.  When they landed there was ZERO ice left anywhere within view on the lake.  It was very humbling. “No ice is safe ice”.  

Tom d. 

On Mon, Jan 5, 2026 at 2:17 PM Evan Perkins <evanwpe...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[JoAnn Berns]

😬😲🙇‍♀️

Yikes!!

Thanks for sharing, Tom. I'm not sure I would have imagined that could happen with 12" ice.  Was it weaker late season ice?  Was it an offshore wind, blowing the ice sheet in the direction of open water so there was nothing there to hold it together?  And I might have thought wind strong enough to do that would have led people to not want to be there in such cold and windy conditions. Perhaps I underappreciate ice fishing culture. 

Jo

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From: vtnordi...@googlegroups.com <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tom Duca <tdu...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, January 5, 2026 6:30:50 PM
To: Evan Perkins <evanwpe...@gmail.com>
Cc: Lola Houston <three...@gmail.com>; kittyw...@gmail.com <kittyw...@gmail.com>; VTNordicskating Listserv <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [vtnordicskating] Big Lake Skating Query

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[JoAnn Berns]

Thanks Matt for forwarding this article to me.  i did wonder about fishing shanties and that might explain people being out in those conditions.  

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/02/22/Twenty-one-rescued-from-runaway-ice-floe/1789572504400/

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From: vtnordi...@googlegroups.com <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of JoAnn Berns <dr...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, January 5, 2026 7:22:25 PM
To: Tom Duca <tdu...@gmail.com>; vtnordicskating@googlegroups com <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: 1988 rescue on Champlain (was:  [vtnordicskating] Big Lake Skating Query

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[Tom Duca]

This was 1988.  We used to have “real” winters back then. The entire lake had been frozen for some time. There was no open water anywhere on the broad lake and so there was no “on” or “off” shore wind effect. The winds were gusting around 50-70 mph? The wind came up very fast. So fast that the ice fishers were not able to get to shore fast enough. 

I believe that kind of wind blowing over the ice creates small low pressure Venturi effects which lift the ice and begin to create numerous fractures. Once there is any open water lead created then over a short time a lot of ice can break up and disappear. 

Anyone else can feel free to chime in here. 

Thank you,

Tom d. 

[Chip Kruger]

Yes Tom, I remember that day as well. As I was working the GI ferry when USCG asked us to try. After 2 hours we only got > 1/2 half mile.  The ice was indeed solid. The Yankee Magazine covered the rescue quite well. Not sure which issue. I think it is a quarterly magazine. So maybe the following issue???

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[Chihunt Wong]

Looks like Bob Dill linked the article here in the "upwind of open water": http://lakeice.squarespace.com/upwind-of-open-water/

Here's an "re-enactment" show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6QfpgHUHEI

Here's an original article: https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=prre19880226-01.1.5&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------

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Chi Wong, Ph.D. (she/her)

[Chihunt Wong]

Ooops this is not the correct youtube, a different rescue haha!

[Tom Duca]

It is interesting to read the pilots’ description of the rescue in the Press Republican. 

As one would expect they are quite calm and matter of fact about the whole thing, “no big deal”.  

The fact is that everyone was quite lucky that day in avoiding a huge tragedy. 

Tom d.