The ice on the lake is “completely unreliable”
The first skaters were reported on the Paterswoldsemeer, on the border of Groningen and Drenthe yesterday, with some skating a few laps of the lake. But according to the, Meerschap Paterswolde, the management authority for the lake, the ice is “completely unreliable”. As reported by the Asser Courant.
Harald Homan of the Meerschap Paterswolde has seen the skaters, but is unimpressed with the ice they are skating on: “it’s the same every year. People cannot wait. But it is still completely unreliable.” Fortunately, says Homan, the skaters stuck to a small corner of the lake. “The southwest corner. Some other parts of the lake are still completely unfrozen.”
The authority cannot prohibit anyone from taking to the ice: “we also don’t forbid anyone to go swimming now, but most people feel that that’s not a good idea either. The only thing we can do is advise against it, warn that it is not yet safe.”
Much more frost is needed to get the entire Paterswoldsemeer ‘closed’, says Homan: “it must certainly be -10. In terms of safety, we need at least ten centimeters of ice on the lake, with a view of the lake.”
Image by Michiel Jelijs on Flickr. License here.
