Poolburn again!

Today our family and our friends (the Pasks) headed up to Poolburn for a day out.  We travelled up through fog and burst through to clear sky and another great Poolburn day.  We managed to get everyone geared up with an assortment of skates and a great day was had  skating to the dam and picnicking on the ice (despite one mishap resulting in a sore head).
It was great to meet the friendly group from Canterbury and good to finally meet Clive who runs the Aardwolves Web site with those all important ice reports.

The Pasks the Youngs and the Canterbury team

Heading to the dam

Food!

Always something to see...

Dam Fine!

Headed off to check the dams near Alexandra today. Was treated to a rare full skate on Butchers Dam - hard smooth ice all over and skate-able to the edge of the dam.
Had always wanted to skate Conroys Dam and today was the day. Good hard ice and an interesting skate among the trees around the edge.  Please note: This is not a skate recommendation as Butchers and Conroys are not known for good ice so check carefully before venturing out and skate at your own risk.

Finished with a skate on the Lower Manorburn. All basins with good ice but dodgy between. The neck was just ok but not enough safe ice in the gorge. 80mm plus in places

On the way home I had my first skate ever on Munroes Gully pond. Good ice but warming in the sun.
The ice at the Lawrence pond was unusual. About 20mm of ice then 12cm of water over another layer of hard ice! I think that the pond must have frozen before the last big rain. Then the rain filled over the top and froze. The pond water level is very high. Unskate-able at the moment.

Conroys Dam

Butchers

Upper Basin

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