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the merrimac ferry? I wasnt aware that the river froze hard enough there to drive across it. I knew the ferry stopped in winter.

I grew up in sun prairie outside of madison by the way.

Anyways, yeah. Back home i've ice fished on 3 inches of ice a bunch of times, couldn't break that stuff if you wanted to. Most people will get too afraid to step on ice long before it wont hold, the main danger is thickness variability. Dont assume that because it is a foot thick in one spot the entire lake is safe.

Make sure you have the right gear.

I've seen idiots walking on 3 inches of ice here in the higher elevations of Arizona.

If Linus, Lucy and Snoopy can do it ....

TheOrglingLlama wrote:Rule #1 : You first

Looks bomber to me, dude...

Clydascope wrote:Make sure you have the right gear.

What's the hardest thing about learning to ice skate??

Telling your friends your gay

lcarreau wrote:I've seen idiots walking on 3 inches of ice here in the higher elevations of Arizona.

3" is plenty for a snowmobile, if it's clear, hard ice. If there's 3" around here, we have a hockey game going.

That's not to say that I'd cross a 1" thick ice covering in the backcountry - even if it was 6" at the shore I'd be cautious, since falling in there would likely be deadly. But, in my decades of skiing, skating, and fishing on lakes, I've never seen anyone fall in.

Good:

DudeThatMustHurt wrote:What's the hardest thing about learning to ice skate??

Telling your friends your gay

Them's fightin' words Dude!

I saw at one of those programmes of that guy who survives in all kind circumstances the following rules:

4cm is supossed to stand the weight of an adult person (but I think that's very thin!)

then he told to take out your backpack and hold it in front of you meanwhile you are advancing lying on the ice (to spread your weight on the maximal surface)...so you actually creep over the ice.

Ice is thinner at the shores than in the center, because ice starts freezing from the center to the sides, so watch out stepping in en out of the water...

and if you fall, use the backpack as a short of anchor to hold on the ice in front of you and try to get out by lying on the back-pack.

If you are wet, get dry as soon as possible (taking off wet clothes) and starting a fire...

I hope this is useful

Gracias por los consejos Jon, son buenos

attila wrote:The ice thickness may be OK. The catch is that snow is an insulator so if there are any springs that feed the lake from the bottom the ice will weaken under the snow over time and even become a layer of slush overlain by what appears to be regular white fluffy snow. Its a scary thing when your purchase feels a little odd and you look down to see your snowshoe sinking into a black abyss with your foot attached. I was lucky that some quick gymnastics kept me from going in -- and this was on a lake where people drive their trucks out to thier icehouses... Near the banks in shallows can be especially hazardous.

I admit my attitude about these things comes from the fact that I am completely disinterested in risk taking. I get a thrill out of challenges but the potential for death or injury adds nothing for me, in fact, risk is a big turn-off. And yes, you can often separate the two. You can have plenty of challenge without having significant risk of death or injury. I'm sure there are plenty on this site who feel differently, but a climb or a move is no less interesting to me if the possibility of death is taken away. In fact, I would prefer that because I have a 2-year-old son that would probably not appreciate spending the next 40 years without a father.

So attila's quote above describes precisely why I would rather just stay off a frozen lake. Obviously, I'm not talking about breaking through near the shore in 2 feet of water; I'm talking about the deep parts, where if you fall through, you're going to be unable to climb out.

Day Hiker wrote:I personally wouldn't walk across a frozen lake. It might be a foot thick at the start but very thin out farther due to a multitude of variables. Who knows. It's not worth the risk, in my opinion. The consequences are way too big.

I was thinking about this just today. In terms of riding my MTB on a frozen lake last year.

In the Keene Valley, we often have to walk across a frozen lake to get to the ice climbing on the other side.

I never have an opportunity to test the thickness of the ice. How is that done? Cutting or drilling seems tedious. I generally won't go on a frozen body of water if the temperature hasn't been like 25 deg F (-4 C) for at least a week.

John Duffield wrote:I never have an opportunity to test the thickness of the ice. How is that done? Cutting or drilling seems tedious. I generally won't go on a frozen body of water if the temperature hasn't been like 25 deg F (-4 C) for at least a week.

An admittedly un-bombproof method is to try driving your poles or axe into the ice ahead of you. Wearing snowshoes provides a more distributed load than the point of a pole or axe, so in most cases it is a decent test. If I hit slush or punch through, I back off. And I only cross lakes in deep winter or spring, never early season or rivers.

Creeks are a similar issue. If you snowshoe enough in the backcountry, you are bound to come across active streams with snow bridges or others seemingly completely buried in snow. Will you punch through in a gully under a pleasant-looking blanket of snow? I find these harder to predict and test than the lakes I've crossed.

John Duffield wrote: ... I generally won't go on a frozen body of water if the temperature hasn't been like 25 deg F (-4 C) for at least a week.

25F, huh? I wouldn't do that, it's too close. I like -10 or so for a few days better, longer if the ice is covered with snow.