Ice Skating on a Frozen Lake for the First Time

One week ago, I went ice skating on a frozen lake for the first time in my life. We gathered a group of friends and headed to Lake Morey, VT, where the Lake Morey Resort clears a 4-mile loop for skating every year. The day was bitterly cold, temps just in the 20’s, but we were eager to try out the ice and have a good day of winter fun before springtime weather was here.

But things don’t always go as planned. Have you ever ice skated on a lake or pond? Despite the fact that I’ve been skating in rinks for almost as long as I can remember, there is a vast difference between Zamboni groomed ice and natural ice. Natural ice is wonky, has shallow cracks, and small chunks are sometimes missing…in short, it takes constant vigilance to spot the obstacles. I took it very slowly and felt badly for slowing the progress down for everyone else.

Then Bethany fell and took out Julia, and both landed at my feet. No one injured, we continued on our way. About 10 minutes further along the trail, Julia realized her cell phone was missing from her pocket, and the search was on to find it. It was located…in the car.

By then we called it a day, and the rest of us returned to join them on the shore. After not falling once all afternoon, a mere 10-feet from the bench where my boots were waiting for me, my feet flew out from under me and I hit the ice. Definitely time to be done and enjoy some hot chocolate and treats!

But the funny thing was that, despite falls and a lost phone and not succeeding in doing the loop (we went about .75-mile before returning), we all thought the day was great fun! It was emboldening to try something new! We just love embracing the activities which belong to each season, and to grab the chance to experience that last bit of winter fun was so enjoyable. When you’re out there on the ice, surrounded by the vast whiteness of the lake and with the cool air chilling your cheeks, you feel so alive! It’s also a little microcosm of the world, which is always fun (like visiting an island), where your entire world is suddenly and temporarily composed almost solely by just a few people, the fellow ice skaters and some ice fishermen. If it’s still winter where you are, I hope you’ll grab one last chance to build some lasting winter memories, too!