![\"Ice](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/header2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you happen to live where it’s still cold enough, ice skating can be a great outdoor adventure. \u00a0As a kid, \u00a0my weak ankles didn’t help me as\u00a0an ice skater, but with a hockey stick in my hands I \u00a0did alright. \u00a0Each year, a spot in the park behind our house would be flooded to freeze up nicely. \u00a0Often the rink went unused until a group of us arrived with our hockey gear and began to mess around.<\/p>\n
Our gear included skates<\/a>, a hockey stick<\/a>\u00a0and, on most days, a hockey puck<\/a>\u00a0and on other days a chunk of ice. \u00a0We had never heard of padding, helmets mouth guards or anything like that. \u00a0We did feel the pain and thus had one major rule . . . the puck had to stay on the ice. \u00a0Those that couldn’t seem to accomplish that were ridiculed and eventually came around.<\/p>\n As\u00a0we got older, our hockey playing moved to a larger expanse of natural ice and, it seemed, fewer kids were able to control the\u00a0puck enough to keep it on the ice. \u00a0I suspect that came from the discovery of college and professional hockey games on TV where getting the puck into the air is seen as an attribute. \u00a0While a couple of my friends continued with hockey on high school and then college teams and did quite well, I put away the hockey stick for good.<\/p>\n Playing Baseball on Lake Mendota Ice Carnival 1916 Well, actually, in a lake the size of Mendota with 15 square miles of surface area, the ice does compress together forming pressure\u00a0ridges. This particular year some of the ridges were three or four feet high requiring a stop and careful climb to get over. \u00a0Still, there were very long stretches of flat ice between the ridges where we could glide along as fast as we could go. \u00a0I particularly enjoyed skimming along near the shore where every nook and cranny was available to see from an entirely new perspective.<\/p>\n A Scene on the Ice Ice skating has been practiced from an era about 5,000 years ago in Finland when the ‘skates’ were sharpened bone attached to the skater’s feet with leather straps. \u00a0The oldest\u00a0skate found with\u00a0a metal blade was discovered\u00a0in Scandinavia and dated to 200 A.D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It used\u00a0a thin strip of copper folded and attached to the sole\u00a0of a leather shoe. Around 800 years ago, the Dutch developed steel-bladed skates and the sport\u00a0began to spread around the world.<\/p>\n While skates were originally used as a means of transportation, Avercamp’s watercolor shows people enjoying skating as a leisure-time activity. \u00a0It also shows us competitive behavior in the form of ice hockey. \u00a0Various\u00a0competitions have evolved around ice skating including speed skating\u00a0and\u00a0figure skating as well as hockey. \u00a0Special skate designs have been developed to serve each of these activities.<\/p>\n For skating enthusiasts that enjoy skating on lakes and rivers, the number one issue is finding ice that is uniformly solid enough to hold the skater without breaking. \u00a0Once in the water it becomes very difficult to get out as, typically, either the skater cannot attain a grip on the ice or the ice breaks away while attempting to climb out. \u00a0This, plus heavy winter clothing can force a skater to stay in the icy water too long for survival. \u00a0Hypothermia and drowning are common causes of death in these situations.<\/p>\n First, never skate alone and second,\u00a0skate only on good ice. \u00a0Depending upon where you are, there are some indicators of solid ice, like ice fishermen using the area. \u00a0They are fully aware of the thickness of the ice. \u00a0Local bait shops or resorts may also be able to advise you on the quality of the ice. \u00a0The Minnesota Department Natural Resources suggests that you really need a minimum four inches of new, clear ice for skating. \u00a0Unless someone has checked before you, you will need to cut through the ice and measure it yourself. \u00a0The easiest way to get a hole in the ice is to\u00a0use\u00a0a cordless drill and a long, wood auger bit of at least 5\/8 inches diameter.\u00a0It takes only a few seconds to drill through four inches of ice. \u00a0A wood auger bit is necessary to pull the ice chips out of the hole so your bit doesn’t get stuck. \u00a0Honeycombed ice, ice with obvious cracks or ice with embedded snow may still be too weak. \u00a0If you drill a hole in the ice, then stand on the ice and the water comes up through the hole, \u00a0the ice isn’t strong enough.<\/p>\n Even after you have determined that the ice is safe, \u00a0it is important to continually be aware of changing conditions. \u00a0Springs bubbling up under the ice in lakes and currents from streams can cause dangerously thin areas as can a variety of other factors. \u00a0As a last resort, \u00a0carry heavy nails or ice claws to help you get out of the water\u00a0if you do happen to fall in.<\/p>\n If you happen to live where it’s still cold enough, ice skating can be a great outdoor adventure. \u00a0As a kid, \u00a0my weak ankles didn’t help me as\u00a0an ice skater, but with a hockey stick in my hands I \u00a0did alright. \u00a0Each year, a spot in the park behind our house would be flooded to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,7,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities","category-adventure","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1695"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1723,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions\/1723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Lake Skating<\/h1>\n
![\"Lake](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Lake_Mendota_ice-225.jpg\")
<\/a>
By uwdigitalcollections [CC BY 2.0<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>The skates, hockey skates<\/a>\u00a0not figure skates<\/a>, \u00a0still came in handy from time to time. \u00a0One year the entire expanse of Lake Mendota, not far from my home in Madison, Wisconsin, froze solidly and smoothly across it’s entire expanse. \u00a0This condition was the result of a favorable combination of rain that froze to smooth the ice and no snow to get in the way of skates. Unlike the photo to the right, there was no wet ice at the surface – it was hard and dry, perfect for skating for miles and miles. \u00a0Much like the ice in the historic photo below.<\/p>\n![\"Ice](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IceCarnival1916-225.jpg\")
<\/a>
University of Wisconsin
Madison
Archives<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\tA\u00a0pressure ridge<\/b>\u00a0develops in an ice cover as a result of a stress regime established within the plane of the ice. Since water in a lake, as it expands into ice, cannot push the shore away, it necessarily buckles upward in ridges across the lake.<\/div><\/div>\nSkating History<\/h1>\n
![\"Hendrick](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/HendrickAvercamp-ASceneontheIce225.jpg\")
<\/a>
by Hendrick Avercamp
first half of 17th century<\/p><\/div>\nSkating Safety<\/h1>\n
Conclusion<\/h1>\n
![\"Learning](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Learning.jpg\")
Learning to skate requires patience, practice and the willingness to fall down . . . a lot. \u00a0If you can, take some lessons; most indoor skating venues offer them. \u00a0If you live in a colder climate, \u00a0you will be able to take your basic skills outdoors and enjoy all that the activity has to offer. \u00a0If you’d like some motivation, \u00a0try our latest free ebook Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates<\/em> by\u00a0Mary Mapes Dodge, available at the Discover Club<\/a>.<\/p>\nPlease Share<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"