Skating on Wet Ice

Early season 2019-20 Nordic skating on a lake near Tampere city of Finland. The weather was not attractive for outdoor activities before the trip. It had rained and the ice was expected to be weak and soft due to the high temperature. It took a bit of a rock’n’roll attitude to go out and see what the ice conditions were like. But in the end we found really nice conditions for skating and we got to experience nature in a very unique way. Finding good ice for skating is not that easy. The most perfect black ice is usually formed at the time of year when it snows a lot. It is challenging to find strong enough ice that is not yet covered by snow. Skating on such ice as shown in this video is often preceded by a rigorous community effort in making and sharing ice observations. Each winter offers different ice and snow conditions, making it impossible to predict the optimal time window several weeks in advance. Most of the time, skating opportunities come with a day or two’s notice and good condi