Some Wild Ice Skating
When Fairlee, Vermont’s Lake Morey freezes over in the winter, a 4-5 mile loop is cleared by a local resort for wild ice skating. I was able to get out on the ice with my family for a couple hours on Friday; it was great fun, and I’m looking forward to going again soon.
I hope you got out this weekend and did something outside or active or new or comforting…we’re going to need to replenish our reserves in the coming weeks and months.
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I’ve been doing a ton of wild ice skating here in Madison, WI this year. Part of the new normal of less snow in the winter with climate change meaning less XC skiing.
Jason- I think you were the one who posted something about nordic skating a few years ago that got me interested in it, so thank you!
There was this post from last March and also this one from 2018 that's one of my favorite KDO posts of all time: The Wonderful Sounds of Skating on Black Ice.
Hi Anders,
Hi Anders, another Madisonian Kottke reader here. Do you have a loop or track in our area that you skate on?
@Jason- Yes, that was it! That post from 2018 is still etched in my memory!
@David- Well, until we get 4 inches of snow tomorrow, both lakes have been basically skateable edge to edge. I did a full loop of Mendota on Saturday, and it was delightful. Otherwise, we close to the Lagoon at Tenney Park, and the city does a nice job of keeping that in good shape for skating.
Dang I'm gonna have to stop and do this next winter. I'm in Chicagoland and visit my dad up through Portage a few times a year. We often stop to let the kids play at the Madison Children's Museum to break up the trip, but strapping on some skates may be a better use of energy in the winter.
My wife and I had my younger sister and her kids over for lunch today. We talked and made some plans for the future. It was nice to just hang out and chat for a bit with no extrinsic reason (like a holiday).
That’s amazing! Spent the weekend skiing local here in CT and will be in VT to ski at Saskadena Six for the long weekend. Looks like massive amounts of snow expected!
I made this post in kind of a hurry last night because I was trying to take the whole weekend off to recharge, but I forgot to note that last week felt like starting a new job to me — exciting because it's new but scary because I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I don't have my routine & sources locked in yet and what my focus & approach are going to be is still unclear. The urge to throw myself into an 60-80-hour work-week was strong, but I'm glad I didn't. I'm feeling rested this morning and hopefully better able to figure some of that stuff out.
I have done this activity on this very lake, several years ago. Ice skating is not in my body's wheelhouse, so I fell hard enough that I convinced myself (wrongly) that I had broken a wrist, and yet I would still go do this again for its lovely sense of local community and its meditative quality.
Ah, this was lovely to see. I've loved living in the SF Bay Area for over 30 years but wild ice skating is in my Top 3 Things I Miss from my NH childhood. My weekend involved welcoming one of my younger sisters. I'm bed-bound after foot surgery & she's here to care for me while my wife travels. It's illuminating, needing so much physical help.
That looks lovely! I sorely miss wild ice skating. But where I live we hardly get these low temperatures long enough any more.
21 years in the Upper Valley (which encompasses Fairlee) and I've never done this. That said, give Nordic skating a shot next time, super interesting and different.
I am extremely jealous of this! Super cool!
I accidentally started having nice nails last month when I said yes to a fancy manicure (that you can't remove at home) and so now I guess I have added this to my self care routine. The benefit of it is that you can't use your phone when you do it, so it's either a chat with the nail tech, or just starting off into space for a bit. It's nice! Have to re-learn how to type though...
Lake Morey was featured in a 2020 NYT article that I had bookmarked, thanks for the reminder!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/travel/vermont-ice-skating-joyce-maynard.html?unlocked_article_code=1.w04.sWD4.bZgmEZ2OjGOI&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
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