Lake Bed Skate

Had another good skate at the Mahinerangi arm this morning.  The good ice was mostly thick - 60mm plus.  An interesting skate as the level falls and the lake bed is exposed with plenty to explore.  Also skated in the enclosed area below the huts.  Great ice - but care is needed as it thins out at the stream end and can be tricky getting on due to the dropped edges.

The enclosed area

water level dropping

The lake bed

Mahinerangi - armed and dangerous!

Early this morning I went to check out Lake Mahinerangi arm and was pleased to find ice thick enough to skate.   Had a good skate on mostly smooth hard ice and great as it is so close to home. The first good skate there for 3 years.  Varied ice but a rewarding fun skate (ever skated down hill...........)

Skaters there need to be extremely cautious as Mahinerangi arm is a tricky place to skate - and dangerous if you are not prepared.  It needs hard frosts and the ice changes rapidly as the lake is well exposed to wind and sun (the wind farm is nearby).  The lake level constantly falls over the winter period and creates dangerous ice shelves around the edge - and these create thaw points for the wind. The lake edge can be very muddy if there is no hard frost.

Lake level dropping

Ice edges shelve and break

Ice Update

I have heard from Dave P that Idaburn, Coalpit and Manorburn are all skate-able.  Coalpit has black ice near the edge and frost effected ice further out,  Idaburn good to the dam and middle basin is all good on the Manorburn.  Check Aardwolfs for further info.

Gooder than 'As Good as it Gets'? :-)

Last year I did a post entitled 'As Good as it Gets' about a skating day on Poolburn Dam. Today went one better!  Four of us left early for Poolburn and were treated to amazing thick black ice covering the whole of the dam except for  the long tail area where a steam comes in.
We had fabulous skating on fast smooth dry black ice - I have not personally skated on such an immense area of such ice. Wow.  We explored new bays and islands created by the high water.
We also skated into the long tail and had fun forging as far upstream as we could until we came to running water.  Gooder than as good as it gets.........
Ice 60mm + over the whole lake - smooth and locked in.  Road - good with some snow on top.  Make sure you have safety practices organized as you can get a long way (and well out of sight) from your vehicle.
Ida Burn Dam - 60mm + locked in - good skating - smooth ice.  Skate with the frost.

Can it get better....

Round a new island - and a fence!

Time for a short break

Skating the stream in the tail

The Stream

Black Ice!

After 2 hard frosts Dave P and I headed to Central looking for ice.   Idaburn had 30-40 mm of black ice in the main basin.  We had a good first skate on smooth glassy ice on the hut side then packed up and headed for Poolburn.
Poolburn turned on a spectacular day - perfect weather and 30-40mm of fresh black ice.  The ice was a bit thin in some places and the day was warming so we skated near the edges for safety.  Fabulous ice - clear and smooth with lots to see.  The water is 2 metres higher than last year and has created new islands and bays. We are looking forward to skating the whole area once the ice thickens. Road is in good condition with some snow at the top.  Best time to skate - early morning with the frost.

At the dam

Smooth ice - the best!

Idaburn

Ice Patterns

Prairie Skating

Waiting for Frost...

We had a hard first overnight but are waiting one more day for another frost before heading to the ice. Meanwhile I checked out our local spot.  Plenty of ice but not yet thick enough for a skate.  I did happen to have the kites with me and ended up having a kite ski nearby at Black Rock.

Hopefully frost and ice tomorrow!

Mahinerangi Arm

Not enough!

Black Rock

Unexpected Skate!

Lake Camp (click for full size)

After a week of warm windy weather we had no plans to go skating this weekend but on a drive to Christchurch today I decided to visit a couple of ice spots on the way through.  The road to Clearwater had some surface ice in various places, little ice on the lakes but I was treated to fabulous views and great weather.

The gate to Lake Ida was locked so had a look at Lake Evelyn and was treated to a skate on the shady side - hard bumpy snow ice (30-40mm) - at the top end of the lake. The rest of the lake was water.  I was joined by Jeremy and Lucy from ChCh.  They had walked through to Ida but not skated as were unsure how safe it was but thought the ice looked similar to Evelyn.  Great to have an unexpected skate and good to see some ice has held through the warm spell.

Evelyn

Jeremy and Lucy