The ice master’s right-hand man on how they handle the ice on the Weissensee

“The enormous mass of more than a metre of fresh snow has pushed the ice down.” That is the report from Bernhard Jank, youngest son of, and right-hand man to, ice master Norbert Jank, about the Weissensee.

Around St Kathrein came the first ice formed, but after that the snow became a formidable ‘opponent’. The growth of the ice slowed.

“The other surfaces of the western part, the small lake, are covered in snow as well”, says Bernhard.

The Weissensee ice: snow ice and treacherous spots

“The snow ice that has formed as a result has partly frozen well”, the ice team member goes on. “But there are treacherous spots under the snow where you can still break through.”

Because of the thin layer, sweeping was not possible either. But now the outlook seems positive. “It will become possible to work the ice with machinery if the cold holds over the coming days.”

There is then a two-step plan for dealing with the ice, Jank reveals at natueislauf.at:

• “First the remaining snow cover has to be cleared with a quad, so the cold can reach the ice.”
• “After that we can prepare and spray a track with the car and the planing machine.”

The Weissensee ice thickness is known

This season the ice team has published measurements for the first time. On the western part of the Weissensee the ice is currently 6 cm thick.

Naturally the lake has not been opened to skaters yet. That only happens when safety can be sufficiently guaranteed.

Travel advice for the Weissensee (orange)

Both the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are issuing a negative travel advisory. Hardly surprising, as the whole world on code orange .

De Alternative Dutch 11-City Tour that is organised there every year was cancelleda while ago. Which removes the main reason many skaters have for travelling to the mountain lake.

Alternative Dutch 11-City Tour in Sweden, sea ice on the Gulf of Bothnia

No Alternative Dutch 11-City Tour on the Weissensee, but there is one elsewhere. At least, for now a tour is planned on the sea ice of the Gulf of Bothnia. At the moment that one is ‘going ahead as planned’.