Spring skating guidelines

[nordicskate]

Happy spring! There's still ice around, and it could be tempting if the surface firms up. Here are some spring skating do's and don't's.

1. Don't even think of skating unless overnight temps have dipped well below freezing.

2. Skate in the morning only. By noon the sun will be so strong that it can ruin the surface even if it's cloudy and below freezing.

3. Launch only from a north-facing or west-facing shoreline that's protected from the morning sun. Use your ice-testing pole frequently, because the visual cues that indicate thin ice may have been erased by repeated thaw-freeze cycles.

4. Stay away from the shore except when launching and landing. In the spring, ice usually melts along the shore first, and in the middle last. That's because the shore is lined with dark objects that absorb the sun's heat, whereas mid-lake has its own microclimate where most of the sun's energy is reflected back into space.

5. Keep an eye on the temperature. Once it climbs above freezing, make a beeline for the shore.

6. Avoid rivers as well as lakes with strong current. Focus on lakes with a small watershed and minimal stream inflows relative to the lake's surface area and volume. (Lake Morey is a good example.)

7. Keep in mind how different kinds of ice deteriorate due to sun, wind and warm temps. Gray ice rots the soonest, but its opacity protects and insulates the solid ice below. Exposed black ice stays hard longer, but it has no protective layer, so it conducts heat rapidly. Once it starts to rot, black ice can collapse without warning.

8. All the gear, all the time - ice testing poles, ice claws, throw bag (Nordic lifeline), and waterproof backpack or PFD.

Some historical perspective. In 23 years watching ice conditions along the VT/NH border, I've only seen two years when the skating season was over by mid-March. Typically, our last day of skating is in late March or early April. The late-season record is April 24th, set in 2017. Don't expect to challenge that record, but we might squeeze in another week or two.

Happy skating,

Jamie