Some black some white...

Ida black

Woke to -12 deg this morning....!  Great for the ice.  Headed over to Idaburn for a dawn skate to catch some black ice in the Gorge.  Great skate but had to walk to the small basin as the ice was too thin at the gorge entrance.
Headed to Poolburn to meet Dave (P). Lots of snow on the ice but we found some small patches of skate able ice to have some fun on.    Left Poolburn and went exploring new ice and were treated to great skating before finishing  with an evening skate on the Lower Manorburn.  Some fab black at the top of the middle basin and into the top basin.  So smooth and hard to get off....

Good to meet up with Jane again and ice talk.  Jane and Inge skated part of Fraser this morning and reported great ice.  Great day all round.

Rest time at Poolburn

Frost flakes on Poolburn

Exploring

Manor burn black... fabulous..

I guess it is winter...

Exploring new places to skate...

On an ice mound....

Today Dave and I headed to the Upper Taieri area to see if we could find any new places to skate.
We started of with an early pond skate on the hills before Paerau then went on down to explore around Styx.  Most places were not suitable for skating but we did skate in a couple of frozen areas then headed over the hills to the nearby dam.
 At the lake inlet we found a bit of skating on big plates of ice the had formed as the water level had dropped.  Great fun.  We then headed to the head of the dam and explored about maybe a third of the dam that was skate able.  Ice was hard compacted snow ice with frost on top.  Great to explore somewhere new. We enjoyed the new scenery and skating up and down the sloping ice plates.
A brief stop to skate the tail end of Mathias - frost on the ice but super smooth.
Next stop was Idaburn for a quick skate - good to see people out enjoying the winter conditions.  We finished of at Poolburn.  A lot of snow on the ice but you could skate some spots in hockey skates.  Nordic skies did not seem to work very well.     A big day out which Dave decided to top off by staying up there to camp for the night.

Starting with a dawn skate...

Enough light to skate....

Wetlands skating

Large ice plates

Dave under 'Extreme Danger"

Around the edge of the dam

Dave on Mathais

Idaburn getting good use 

Frost patterns at Poolburn

Ice Report:

Idaburn -  has good skating in the main area.  Some rough some smooth.  Was 'managed' today by some locals.

Poolburn -  Fresh snow on top makes heavy skating.  Some rough ice under the snow.  Track in has some snow but drivable.  

Frost are back!

Good to see the frosts are back and great to see ice still in  Coalpit this afternoon.  Was all snow ice some of which had melted and frozen again and the rest covered in crusty snow.  Had a skate on the smooth then dropped back to Lower Coalpit which was all remelt snow ice and had a good skate.
Idaburn next and a good pack of snow effected ice in the main area.  Some has smoothed off and was good skating.  If tomorrow warms up both places will get soft.

Coalpit - smooth and crusty....

Evening on Idaburn

Ice Report

Coalpit - plenty of ice on whole area.  Smooth on the open side but crusty on the shadow side.  Be careful on the the smooth side as ice is thinner and will break around the edge.  Lower Coalpit - bumpy hard ice - ok skate.  Will soften in the sun.

Idaburn - Good icepack in main area.  Mostly hard but some rough bits near the bank.  Smoother toward the outlet - good skate.  Water and thin ice in Gorge. Will soften in the sun.

Diamond Lake on?

Was shown a picture today of someone on Diamond Lake near Wanaka.  Worth checking out if you  are over that way and looking for a skate. (Nice place to skate by the way)

Head toward Treble Cone - the lake is on the way.  Short walk up the hill to get there but check the ice carefully before going on.....

Diamond Lake - via Instagram

Poolburn white...

Frozen creek on way to the first skate

Big day on the ice today with lots of variety.  Woke up to a chilly morning and drove over to meet Dave and his crew at the bottom of the Poolburn track.

While waiting I went for a quick explore and a skate on a small dam nearby.  Great.

 Headed up to Poolburn with Dave, Nick and James.  As usual great to see the dam in all its winter glory - although the ice was covered in snow.  Amazing to find that it was quite easy to skate on with our hockey boots as the snow was light and fluffy.  Good hard ice underneath.  Had a good time exploring but were unable to go around the main island as pressure cracks had opened to clear water in some places.

Next stop the Lower Manorburn -  treated to a good skate on mostly smooth ice.  Good way to finish the skating day.

Small dam.... or dam small skate...

Dave Nick and James on Poolburn

d d d d d d d Dave in action 

Lower Manorburn - Dave Nick and James

Ice Report:  Poolburn - thick ice in main bay and most other areas.  Some open water.  Ice hard but snow covered - with some clear black ice patches.   New ice is thin compared to the main pack.  Track in good condition - but snow covered.

Lower Manorburn.  Good ice over most of the main basin. Hard ice -  mix of smooth and a little bumpy.   Over 100mm in Rushcutters out to 60-70mm on the other side.   Thin ice in neck and water in the gorge.  Skate with the frost.

Evening skate...

On the way to Central this afternoon I stopped by the Idaburn Dam and was surprised to find so much ice. The ice was quite thick especially on the hut side and well locked in.   Of course I couldn't let that go to waste.........  Had a nice skate into the evening on hard, slightly bumpy ice.  Good to be back on the ice after waiting a week and great way to end the day.    Staying in Omakau for the night (despite leaving my overnight  things at home.....agh..) and if the snow stays away will check out some skating tomorrow

Idaburn in the evening.

Selphy mode...and happy to be on the ice again....

Idaburn:  Good ice pack over the main area. Hard and locked in.  Water in the inlet and channel.  Good skating.

Wind Rain Warmth.....

It has been a disappointingly warm and windy week.  We are hoping some ice has survived from the weekend.  The ice has mostly disappeared on Idaburn.  The snow has gone from around Naseby as well.    I have heard there is a bit of ice still in Rushcutters on the Lower Manorburn

Hoping for a bit of frost this weekend.

Idaburn with a bit of ice left on the hut side - rest mostly water
Photo -  CY