This saying predicts when ice starts forming on the Weissensee

Skating enthusiasts often wonder when the ice starts forming on the Austrian Weissensee, in Carinthia. The answer turns out to be the same almost every year. Sometimes to the very day.

When is there ice on the Weissensee?

In winter the mountain lake is frozen almost constantly. But when does that ice actually start to form? “Zu Kathrein friert der See zu”, as an old piece of country wisdom has it.

‘The ice almost always starts forming around 25 November’

25 November is the day dedicated to ‘saint’ Saint Catherine, or Catharina / Kathrein. It is also the day on which, traditionally, the ice starts to grow.

• “Punctually on 25 November, Kathrein, a thin layer of ice starts to form on the small, western part of the Weissensee”, reports Naturpark Weissensee.

Usually it takes a while after that before there is a serious layer of ice. But by the middle of December the ice can easily be 40 cm thick . That thick sheet of ice then stays for a long time, usually until the beginning of March.

The saying's predictive power is impressive. In many years the ice really did start forming op of roughly around Kathrein. In the same week, for instance.

Exceptions

There are exceptions now and then, of course. Last year, among others. In 2019 the water was too warm for a long time.

Not until 8 December 2019 did Bernhard Jank, the youngest son of ice master Norbert, report an ice update. “Der Sommer ist vorbei”, were his exact words. “On the western part of the Weissensee a thin layer of ice has formed over the past few nights.”

That made ‘2019/2020’ an odd skating season on the remarkable Weissensee. Because in the end the ice could not be officially opened until 1 January 2020. Happily that was well in time for the ‘Alternative Dutch 11-City Tour’.

Alternative Dutch 11-City Tour 2021 cancelled

De Weissensee is known for the Alternative Dutch 11-City Tour. Recreational skaters can normally take part too, in the tour version.

The tours of January 2021 have been cancelled, because the whole of Austria went orange (a negative travel advisory).

A unique ice experience

Even so, holidaymakers may yet get to have a unique ice experience. There is a small chance that the ministry will relax the current travel advisory in mid-January.

In that case the Weissensee could still be a destination for a pleasant skating holiday.