Being a Virginia girl, I didn’t have too many opportunities to skate on ponds when I was young.  However, I married a man from Michigan, so pond skating was something he did every year from December through March. He even skated on a river – which I think is insane!

In Charlottesville this year, we had a very, very long spell of freezing weather and even a storm that dumped over two feet of white fluffy snow on the ground.  That’s when my husband began talking about skating on the pond, and I started worrying more and more. All I could imagine was someone breaking through the ice and all the bad things that go along with that.  My husband reminded me that the pond is only a foot deep for most of it’s length and only gets eight feet deep at the very end near the stand pipe. Still, I was nervous.

To help make sure we could skate safely, my husband did some research. He learned that the ice had to be over 5 inches thick to skate on.  So, he grabbed his electric drill and drilled test holes around the pond.  He also found out that the ice should be clear, instead of white.  White ice has air bubbles in it and isn’t as stable. Another indication of safety is whether the ice is creeping up the sides of the pond, which means it’s expanding.  When the ice is pulling away from the sides of the pond, it is beginning to melt. He also said we should each skate with a hockey stick in our hands – an extra precaution he learned in Michigan.  If we broke through the ice, we would have a stick in our hands and this would help someone else to get us out of the water more quickly.

When all was said and done, the ice was just right.  So, I headed to a local Play It Again Sports shop and bought $10 used ice skates. We had an amazing afternoon skating on the pond surrounded by snow-covered trees.  If you get a chance to ice skate outside, do everything you can to make sure the ice is thick enough and then have fun!