BUT IS IT TIME TO STRAP ON YOUR SKATES?
In the photo above, a lone ice skater plies the surface of Sand Lake early Saturday afternoon in Anchorage, where it is 28 degrees and overcast. Nov. 10 may be the first day of iceskating in Anchorage, but the lakes may not be safe. Two inches of ice is the minimum required for one person on foot or skates to safely go on freshwater ice, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For more than one person in a small area, it’s 3 inches.
Others at Sand Lake took their ice boats out for a spin.
Sailable ice is sometimes called “hard water” to ice-yachting enthusiasts. It’s not certain that ice in the Anchorage area is yet “hard water” enough to hold the weight of these risk-taking sportsmen, but if they go through the ice, at least they’ll have something to hold onto.