 |
| Fabulous Poolburn |
Today reminded me why I love natural ice skating - you never quite know what you will find! After a string of good frosts since Tuesday I decided to check out the ice one more time.
Expected to find ice on the Lower Manorburn and was not disappointed. Had a skate in Rush Cutters on the old ice and a bit of the new. Rest of the main basin was covered - but not quite thick enough for a solo skate! Hunting around I found some other skate-able parts - in particular my first skate this season in the shady side of the upper basin. Some fresh black ice too! (Interestingly the fresh ice did not feel as strong as earlier in the season despite the hard frost - wondering if the water temps were up - or shorter freeze time?)
Poolburn was a surprise. Whole of the main bay was covered in a mixture of old snow ice and new black ice. The older ice was very solid and the new a bit creaky. Unfortunately I was not there early as the ice would have been safer. Had a great skate aver the whole main area and around the small island. Decided not to skate the big island because the day was warming up and could not guarantee conditions.
The great thing about Poolburn is it is always different each visit - and a huge area to skate.
Fab skate and hard to leave!
 |
| Looking down to the neck from the upper basin |
 |
Checking the ice in the trees - upper basin
|
 |
| Mix of snow and new ice |
 |
| Always something new to see |
 |
| Looking out in the main bay |
9 comments:
Thanks for the report Dave, great photos, Poolburn looks fantastic....again, I have skated more in the Upper Basin than the Main Basin at Lower Manorburn, found it was very reliable in the shade. We are late in the season now.....as you say...how long will it last....? Keep skating..:-)
Yes Clive - been a weird season and had not skated in the upper basin this year as the ice just was not on. Will have to wait till next year to skate through again. You guys have had a good run at Ida!
Well I'll be blowed! This old prophet of doom thought the season was over. Good on yer Dave, I would love to be there not in Welly. Perhaps when the big snow storm abates around Thursday there will be more skating on snow thaw ice.
Yep Al - hoping the snow will bring some big cold air for the rest of the week. Snow thaw that is smoothed off would be ok!
Surprised to see Poolburn turned on such a good day. Was a good mix for either tour or sports skates. I would have gone right round the main island if I had got there earlier with the frost.
Hi Dave, yes Ida has been good but the season overall has been short, and late, first skate of the season for us was 3rd July which is 3-4 weeks later than previous(First:1st June 2008, last: 9th August 2009, my records go back to 2003), having said that there was people skating at Ida every day for about 2 weeks, not often that happens..:-)there also hasn't been enough Ice to skate on Lake Evelyn!!!!
Will have to wait and see if we get any more skating after this Snow....The sun is getting quite high and now covers about 1/2 of Ida, fresh grooming we hope.
Yep - we were late this year as well Clive - and we were not very hopeful but it turned out better than first thought. We would normally be on the ice before the end of June. Seemed to come late this year - but still a shorter season so far - though Saturday on Poolburn was a surprise considering the warm temps and longer days. We missed a skate in Idaburn this year which is unusual.
Hello Dave,
Nice pictures again! Good to see skating is still on. In your report you write: "Interestingly the fresh ice did not feel as strong as earlier in the season despite the hard frost - wondering if the water temps were up - or shorter freeze time?"
With us on the other side of the planet, the sun is much higher up at the end of the season. In the beginning of the season, the sunlight gets reflected more, because the heat radiation comes in in a small angle. Later in the season, the heat radiation bends into the ice, instead of getting reflected. The ice absorbs it, and the ice crystals get weaker. Sometimes with very clear ice, the water under absorbs sun heat too. Could this be the case in NZ as well?
Skating greetings!
Rob.
Hi Rob - thanks for that info - it could be right. We are now into longer warmer days and what you have outlined makes sense.
Yes you sharing such a great information.I too share my experiences with anyone who will listen.
Ice hockey kit & Roller blades
Post a Comment