I teach Wild Ice and Ice Rescue!
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If you are new to ‘wild ice’, this podcast interview is a good place to start:
Basic Safety Concepts
Follow minimum thickness guidelines. Thickness can be measured by drilling a hole through the ice with an auger or ice (climbing) screw. Four inches (10 cm) of clear ice provides a nice margin for skaters, hikers, and bikers. Thickness varies on rivers and is not a reliable proxy for strength during breakup season.
Test the ice’s strength as you go. Textural changes (color, frost, snow cover, smoothness) can indicate different ice conditions. For example, white ice is not as strong as clear ice. Folks on foot can determine the ice’s strength by striking it with an ice probe (more information below), ice-fishing spud, or axe.
Carry ice rescue picks. Wear a pair of ice rescue picks around your neck—these are the safety belts of the ice world. Ice picks are cheap ($10) and available at sporting goods stores.
Wear flotation. A life vest (PFD), float coat or other flotation-assisting clothing, or even a backpack with drybags will help keep your head above water.
Be prepared. Carry spare clothing and a two-way communication device, have a re-heating strategy, and travel with partners who can help if anything goes wrong.
The 1:10:1 rule. Keep this guideline in mind if you break through the ice.
- 1 minute: Your only objective in the first minute is to get your breathing under control.
- 10 minutes: You have ten minutes to do the work of getting out of the water. After ten minutes you will have lost grip strength and the ability to tread water.
- 1 hour: If you can’t get out on your own, yell for help and find a position that conserves your energy as you wait for rescue. You have up to an hour before becoming hypothermic.
If you break through the ice: Turn around and crawl out in the direction that you came from. Use the ice rescue picks, stabbing back at a 45-degree angle, while you bring your legs to the surface of the water and kick gently. You want this to be a smooth process, not violent. The ice shelf will likely break under your weight until you reach stronger ice.
Equipment
Ice skating exposes you to hazards including hard impact, cold air, and cold water. Risk assessment should be part of any outing. We carry safety equipment to make us less vulnerable if something goes wrong.
Knowing how to use your safety gear is as important as carrying it.
Padding: The thing that is most likely to go wrong is injury due to falling on the ice. You should consider knee, hip, elbow, and wrist padding, especially if you are a newer skater or older person! There have been a number of serious head injuries (including a few fatalities at indoor rinks)—helmets are a very good idea.
Ice probe: A few skate brands offer ice probes, which are like ski poles but with a heavy tip that allows you to gauge ice thickness and strength. In my opinion, this is the only safe way to quickly and conveniently monitor ice thickness/strength on the fly. If the pole breaks through the ice with a hard jab or two, the ice won’t support your weight. These poles are not as useful for propulsion.
Ski poles: I use ski poles for propulsion on rough ice or long days. But if the ice is nice, I leave the poles behind. If you want poles for propulsion, skate ski poles are the best due to their length and sharp asymmetric tip. I don’t use the pole wrist straps because I’m afraid of a shoulder injury or broken pole if I fall.
Ice rescue picks: Ice rescue picks provide traction when you are climbing out of the water. There are several options and they are all pretty darn cheap. I like in-line picks that can be worn around your neck. Many folks prefer a v-holster style. The only design I don’t really like is the Pick-of-Life—the cord is hard to manage and the spring-loaded tips can ice up. Whichever you choose, make sure it is accessible. Practice retrieving your picks with your eyes closed.
Throw rope: A rope can be useful if someone needs assistance getting out of the water. River ropes are ideal because they float. I prefer throw bags that can be worn as a waist belt, like the NRS Guardian. 55 feet of floating rope is a good length.
Ice screw: I often carry a short ice screw in case I need to anchor the throw rope on the ice. You can use a screw to measure ice thickness, but this is not as efficient as using a probe, and doesn’t tell you as much about strength as probe strikes.
Flotation: Your backpack probably offers all the flotation you need, but we wear life vests (PFDs) when conditions are particularly sketchy. Flotation makes a big difference if you go into the water … the higher your head is out of the water, the less likely you are to panic. Our dry bag with clothing (next item) also serves as flotation, and I put that bag at the bottom of my pack so that the buoyancy is as low as possible. You can run a strap between your legs to help keep the pack from rising high if you go in the water. Snug up the hip belt and sternum strap so that the pack doesn’t shift if you break through.
Dry clothing: Extra ‘just-in-case’ clothing should be carried in a dry bag at the bottom of your pack. I carry a full change of clothes—synthetic puffy jackets and pants will make a big difference if there is an injury or soaking.
Firestarter: Carry a fire starter. We carry an integrated stove system (stove and pot) with a 4 oz fuel canister. Hot and sugary fluids will help a cold patient regain warmth. Heat from the inside.
I also carry a first aid kit and repair kit.
Here’s what’s in my pack:
The Skate
You are likely choosing between a figure skate, hockey skate, or Nordic skate.
Figure and hockey skates are more playful and my preference for small lakes or short days.
Nordic skates are more efficient, warmer, and generally more comfortable. The design is simple: a steel blade under an aluminum platform. The platforms come pre-drilled with mounting holes for standard NNN, SNS, or NIS skate ski bindings. In North America, your options are Ermine skates in Alaska or nordicskater.com on the east coast.
A lot of people are thrown off by the free heel on nordic skates (especially the completely free pivot with my Dynafit setup, see below). But speed skates are also free-heel—if your heels were locked you wouldn’t be able to follow through with the skate stride.
Longer blades are better for going faster and smoothing out rough ice. Shorter blades are better for agility and turning. If you are coming from a hockey/figure skate background, that extra length will feel weird. The free heel will feel weird too!
In my experience, Isvidda has the softest steel, then Lundhags, then Zandstra. Ermine’s steel is hard as well, and the build is the most durable, which makes for a heavier skate. Harder steel stays sharp longer but takes longer to sharpen. My Isvidda pair was notably dull after just ~20 miles, and my Zandstra’s keep an edge longer (more on sharpening below).
Binding and Boots
Most people use skate ski boots and bindings. You want a boot with as much ankle support as possible. In fact, I use a backcountry ski boot (e.g., Dynafit) and binding (“tech toe”) for remote, cold, or long trips. This is unusual.
NOTE! The free pivot on a tech toe binding makes treading water very difficult. Self-rescue from immersion will be harder in this setup! We always carry throw ropes to assist in a rescue effort.
I drilled a few extra holes through my platform so that I can use a backcountry tech binding (see photos below). I really like this setup, my backcountry boot is warmer, stiffer, more adjustable, etc. I’ve broken through ice in these boots midway through a multi-day trip, and still been fine because the closed-cell foam liners don’t absorb water (I use Intuition after-market liners).
I’m mounting the toe piece so that my mid-boot mark is in the center of the skate’s contact zone:
- Mark the ski boot’s mid-boot position on the skate platform.
- Click the Dynafit boot into the toe-piece.
- Align the Dynafit mid-boot mark with the line that you drew on the skate platform.
- If the toe-piece mounting holes overlap the existing hole, I shift the assembly as little as possible, forward or back, so that I can drill new holes. Two holes has worked fine.
Sharpening
I like a sharp skate, and sharpen them after nearly every use. Every 30 miles or so might be a good guideline. Nordicskater.com sells jigs for sharpening, and there are a handful of clever homemade jigs online. I’ve upgraded to a real jig, but at first, I just drilled some extra holes in the platforms so that I could screw the skates onto scrap lumber. The key is to get the blades parallel and level so that you can use the grinding stone on both at the same time. I’m currently using a DMT coarse/extra coarse, a 1200 grit to finish, and a fine stone or razor to deburr the edges. The DMT is more aggressive than most people want, but I like that I can sharpen the skates in just a few minutes.
Trip planning
Part of the fun is learning how to anticipate good skating conditions. My main resources are webcams, satellite imagery, weather forecasts, and wind gauges. You can find some instruction in the ‘Resources’ menu on this page, and my WILD ICE! Online Course and annual Start & End at Home course are great options for folks who want to dive deeper.
Happy skating!