Ice master escapes from a sinking car as the Weissensee gives way under 1.40 m of snow

Ice master Norbert Jank recently got himself out of a desperate situation. In heavy snowfall he went through the ice, car and all. Skating is impossible thanks to absurd amounts of snow.

De Snow had been a problem before as well, as a delaying factor. The approach against that mass of snow worked, and the ice was opened.

Here is a bird's-eye view of what happened next, in three steps. We pick up where we left off: just after the holidays.

1. A dream day at the ‘skating mecca’ Weissensee

From 17 centimetres ice thickness on Christmas Day to 19 centimetres on 27 December, the third day of Christmas. That sunnyday, in every sense, turns out to be a dream day.

“In the most wonderful winter weather, sunshine and -5°, ice sportsmen and winter walkers bustled about on the ice”, says Bernhard Jank, the ice master's youngest son.

Thousands of visitors come to the popular mountain lake in Carinthia. Queues form here and there on the access roads, but that does not spoil the fun.

Keeping your distance is no problem, as the prepared surface is more than 150,000 m².

2. A snowstorm, and Norbert Jank goes through the ice

Almost 24 hours later the world looks very different. A heavy snowstorm leaves the ice team unable to get their bearings. Then, on 30 December, it turns out that nothing at all is possible .

• Bernhard at natureislauf.at: “On the west part we no longer have any chance of clearing the snow.”
• “In many places the water is pushing up through it. Yesterday another 15 cm fell, and at the weekend the next load is coming. It is hopeless.”
• There is one bright spot: “That is the east part, which is partly snowed over, and may yet provide a base.”

That evening weissensee.news dramatic news about Norbert Jank. “In heavy snowfall he broke through the ice and went far under water with the car.”

The ice master had to free himself and swim up. “He waited 5 long minutes” for his colleagues, with his head on a slab of ice. It took that long to make sure they did not fall into the hole as well.

According to the Austrian news portal Norbert is doing well: “He is already wondering whether the eastern part will freeze over in the coming days.”

A dump of 1.40 metres of snow follows

Then comes the weekend, with a dump of 1.40 metres of snow. The east part is snowed under, the west part gives way.

3. The state of the Weissensee ice today: the mountain lake is closed

Which brings us to the state of the ice today. Once again Bernhard of natureislauf.at is speaking. Will the Weissensee closed for the season?

“Unfortunately there is no good news to report about the ice conditions on the west part of the Weissensee. Well insulated under a thick blanket of snow, the ice lies buried in a dirty slush.”

All in all, preparing the ice is not possible. And the outlook is not good. Yet there is always hope on the Weissensee. Now as well.

“We hope it will soon be possible to work a surface on the east part”, Bernhard says. “That depends first on the weather over the coming days and weeks. And second it is an economic decision, in a time of lockdowns and travel warnings.”

• Since mid-December the whole world on code orange. Travel abroad is advised against until mid-March. Austria itself has been completely orange since the end of October.