Hey FOlks- I involuntarily joined the polar bear club while skiing today. Some friends and i skated over to the kite festival and had to cross over that large "upheaval"--or where the ice sheet fractured. I think it exists pretty much around the entirety of the lake--settling of the ice? ANyway, to make a long story short-- the ice is not as thick by these fractures. Plus-as it turned out, i crossed it too close to the Yahara river(At least a couple 100 feet out). ANyways i fell through but just down to the next layer of ice.--up to my knees maybe. Definitely got the heart pounding. Fortunately, i had a wool blanket in the wagon.
Beware.... Besides that, the snow was super slick early in the morning. After skiing on sandpaper the past couple of weekends at ABR, this was a pleasant surprise. I actually thought, so maybe there is another birkie in my future? MOst of the ice is quite thick--at least 12" as measured through the fishing holes. The snow coverage is becoming sparse, but hopefully it will hold through tomorrow morning. IF my clothes and boots dry out tonight, i may ski again tomorrow but this time with "swimmies" on both arms... Cheers, Eric At 08:39 PM 1/31/03 -0800, Zachary Larson wrote: >dear madnorski faithful, > >i went out on lake mendota friday night (from tenney park to picnic point) >and it was splendid for skating. the average ice depth, judging by ice >fishing holes, is 15-17 inches. this depth was verified by an ice fishing >hotline. the snow is perfectly crusted over and the entire lake is >skiable from my experience. it is better a ways off the shore, where >there was ice prior to the thursday night snowfall, as it is even and >nicely crusted here. along the shore there are some rocks and uneven >spots. in various parts of the lake there are small upheavals that can >mostly be avoided. otherwise they can be skied over, as they are frozen >over. parallel to the east side of picnic point there is a large upheavel >that should be avoided because it has created a 1-2 foot wide section of >open water surrounded by solidly frozen ice. otherwise it is smooth, fast >and fun skiing. > >if it is above freezing during the day, the night skiing is good because >the snow quickly crusts over. > >enjoy the snow while it lasts! > >zach larson > >__________________________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. >http://mailplus.yahoo.com >_______________________________________________ >http://www.MadNorSki.org/ >XC mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/xc _______________________________________________ http://www.MadNorSki.org/ XC mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/xc
