Lake ice is safe for skating
The outdoor ice is ready. But skaters should wear a face mask to avoid freezing.
That’s the advice from Lethbridge’s Parks operation manager, as parts of three lakes were cleared this week for public skating.
Kevin Jensen says crews have removed recent snow to provide skating areas at Henderson and Nicholas Sheran Lakes, along with Chinook Lake in Uplands.
It’s the first time this winter, he says. Southern Alberta’s unusually mild weather — until February — meant no ice that formed was thick enough for use.
Now skaters are welcome, but Jensen warns them to use face coverings while temperatures and wind chill remain a hazard.
Some years, Parks operations crews may begin checking for ice as early as October. But if they see open water on any part of a lake, he says, they know whatever ice has formed is far too thin.
Frozen lake areas aren’t opened for skating until there’s 10 inches of ice, Jensen explains. When there’s 12 inches, Parks crews can use light-weight equipment to clear off some snow.
That hasn’t happened much in recent years. Last winter, he recalls, there was just one stretch in February cold enough to hold the ice.
“Sometimes we’ll get two or three weeks, if we’re lucky,” Jensen says. “Then we get a chinook.”
And the ice becomes unsafe within a few days, at most.
How often Parks crews are able to return for more skating ice maintenance depends on snowfall, Jensen says.
Their first priorities include clearing sidewalks around civic buildings, pathways in major parks and snow-covered sections of the Coalbanks Trail which connects other northside and southside facilities.
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