Skating enthusiasts in Maine are relishing a rare treat: an abundance of clear, smooth ice on lakes and ponds thanks to a stretch of sunny, frigid weather. This 'black ice' paradise, however, is fleeting as climate change brings shorter, warmer winters.
Maine hasn't seen a lot of snow yet this year, a disappointment for skiers and snowmobilers. But a stretch of sunny, frigid days earlier this month created an abundance of clear, smooth ice on lakes, ponds, and even some rivers, a rare treat for outdoor skating enthusiasts. The late afternoon sun glinted off the frozen surface of Great Pond in Cape Elizabeth last week, and Alden Sawyer hurtled across the ice as a fierce north wind propelled his handheld surfing sail.'It was up there,' he said.
'It definitely feels fast on a pair of skates.' Frank Whitter also came to ride the ice. He said he's been skate sailing for more than 30 years, and these are some of the best conditions he's ever seen. 'It's truly panic mode. Everybody's like, texting and 'Where are you going?' I have one friend who went three times yesterday, three different lakes, just chasing black ice,' Whittier said. Frank Whittier, of Cumberland, on Great Pond in Cape Elizabeth on Jan. 7. Whittier said he's been skate sailing since the late 1980s, and has rarely seen ice conditions this good. (Ari Snider/Maine Public) When Whittier says black ice, he's not referring to the roadway hazard, nor to the extreme sport of skating on especially thin ice. For him and others in Maine's outdoor skating community, black ice means a safe, smooth, mirror-like surface unblemished by snow, rain or thaw.'It is absolutely like a glass carpet out there,' he said, surveying Great Pond.'It's crazy, crazy, beautiful.' In fact, conditions were so good that Stew Strawbridge pulled his fourth-grade daughter Nina out of school for a session on Runaround Pond in Durham. 'I mean, we usually get it once a year, maybe twice, but right now we've got a stretch. It looks like it might last like 15 to 20 days,' Strawbridge said.'Ah well, it's so fun to just like, glide across the ice,' she said.Marina Gray, left, and Danielle Duperry try out some moves on Highland Lake on Jan. 8. (Ari Snider/Maine Public) Meanwhile in Falmouth, Marina Gray is cutting a swift, upwind line across the glassy surface of Highland Lake. 'It's kind of effortless, almost,' she said, midstride.'And I'm sure, you know, once the wind pushes me back, I probably will have to do like 10% effort to try to really get some speed.' Gray said she fell in love with outdoor ice skating as a kid, and that now she's something of an evangelist for the sport. 'I'm trying to get all my friends to go out. My friend with me today, she actually just bought her skates an hour ago,' Gray said.There's no central authority in the outdoor ice community, so most information travels through a tip from a friend, a video dropped in the group chat, or a detailed scouting report posted on Facebook. The ever-shifting nature of the ice, and the crowd-sourced knowledge gathering, is part of the thrill. But it's also part of the risk. There's no guarantee that the ice will be safe on any given section of any given pond. Marina Gray wears a pair of ice picks around her neck in case she breaks through and needs to pull herself out. But she said that's part of the deal. 'Just something about being on a frozen lake seems kind of daring,' she said.'I like to push the limits and enjoy the elements outside.' Karl Ramsdell, of Old Orchard Beach, skate sailing on Highland Lake on Jan. 8. (Ari Snider/Maine Public) Those elements, of course, are changing. Maine winters are getting shorter, warmer, and more erratic due to climate change.'We're truly cherishing this moment, but we're not getting as many,' he said.'Our lakes are unequivocally not freezing as much in the winter.'In the waning daylight Whittier steps onto his sailing deck — a sort of longboard with skates instead of wheels — lifts a handheld sail overhead, and glides away
BLACK ICE CLIMATE CHANGE ICE SKATING MAINE OUTDOOR SPORTS WINTER WEATHER
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