When do your local lakes freeze. I hope to be out by thanksgiving up in the high country here in SD.

But with this huge bubble of HP it looks like it might be Dec.

Last season we were on the ice by Dec. 5th.

might be a bit cautious but I usually don't tread on ice till January. If it goes like last year December will prove to be really cold and low snow accumulation making for really nice ice when it warms in Jan. If there's a ton of ice fishermen out then I'll deem it safe. I think that Macboy had an ice safety thread going last year that had a ton of good info to follow.

i was hoping to head Alaska sooner than later. Buggeyed, Snowbird, Coolbreeze wanna get going on snowkiting soon too.

im all geared up and waiting. lets go lets go ... whoop whoop kiteloop.

Southern Alberta's first week of below freezing daytime highs is coming soon so the sloughs could be ready for kiting by Thanksgiving. The deeper lakes are usually ready mid December if we have a few nights down to 0F or lower.

All depends on how far south the jet stream sits.

Never my balls are starting to get frozen, being out on the water ... if that counts at all :o

I hate it when that happens Kami.

The lakes that freeze her first are shallow, average depth about 20'. Amazing how fast some freeze with a week of freezing temps.

We should have useable ice here in southern Alberta in a couple of weeks. The shallow sloughs will be first to freeze up safely. I always hope that it doesn't snow early in the season just to have some nice clean fresh ice. I go out to the lakes as the freezing progresses to identify which spots freeze last - either to current, or a spring being present. Makes it easier to identify spots that might be thin for the early season sessions.

It's going down to -10C tonight. The forecast for tomorrow shows that only 4 or 5 hours of the day will be above 0. We might have useable ice soon.

In The Netherlands the temp. still way to high but we got 50 + knots wind this weekend :wee:

Have Fun
Ruudje

Quote:

Originally posted by Ruudje In The Netherlands the temp. still way to high but we got 50 + knots wind this weekend :wee: Have Fun Ruudje

Again I swear I live in the wrong country to be a kite buggier.

I just saw some pics of guys riding clean ice at Lac Des Arc in Alberta.

Too long for me to drive.

Quote:

Originally posted by Feyd I just saw some pics of guys riding clean ice at Lac Des Arc in Alberta. Too long for me to drive.

hello BC crew, anyone wanna go next weekend?

$400 for 3 days by air.

hmm 400 dollar you say Ricardo :puzzled: If this could be true
I all for black ice :wee:

Have Fun
Ruudje

Coolbreeze and I have decided to go for the last week of November THU to SUN.

someone from AB, is Lac Des Arc all Black Ice??? if so we need to take our buggies.

any other locations around Calgary that we can Snow Kite at the moment?

im bored of watching snow kite videos. i need to get riding asap.

the dream of clean ice in my area 3.5 hours away from lac des arcs will be gone in a few hours. a winter storm warning with tons of snow for my zone in southeastern alberta will nix clean ice for a while. Lots of snow (and cold) for the next 10 days. I'm not complaining. My favourite surface is nice ice. Ricky Ricardo will have a number of options when he does go to Calgary as to where he will ride. Lots of snow for the Bow Valley in the next while, so no clean ice for LDA either.......

Quote:

Originally posted by PrairieWind the dream of clean ice in my area 3.5 hours away from lac des arcs will be gone in a few hours. a winter storm warning with tons of snow for my zone in southeastern alberta will nix clean ice for a while. Lots of snow (and cold) for the next 10 days. I'm not complaining. My favourite surface is nice ice. Ricky Ricardo will have a number of options when he does go to Calgary as to where he will ride. Lots of snow for the Bow Valley in the next while, so no clean ice for LDA either.......

doh, stop talking you're making me drool. its going to be a long week at work daydreaming of better places.

see you soon, i hope, BRO!!! :wee:

Hopefully the wind and weather gods are kind to you on your road trip....

There is still a chance for Lac Des arcs to stay clear. It was pretty rare to see it holding snow when I used to drive by a LOT. Too windy.

Spray lakes are even higher in elevation. Odds are good they will be open by then to? Ghost and Chestermere lakes in Calgary are also options? Canuck can proabably give you the low down there?

Still open water on Spray & Bow Lakes - too deep to freeze yet . I haven't been out to see Chestermere, Ghost or Cochrane yet.

LDA is the shallowest so it freezes 1st but we had snow all week and the wind has died . Not to mention that it is in the -20's without windchill. It won't be long before the deeper lakes are solid.

Enough snow on the sports fields in Cowtown to snowkite so I will bundle up and get out there tomorrow finally. I hear that Vancouver is getting 10cm tonight - maybe a rare snow session at Vanier for BR.

Looking forward to see you all at Christmas :bigok:

i heard Surrey / BBY had falling snow last yesterday.

its still too warm here in Richmond. I havent seen any snow and the Koi Pond in the backyard is still not freezen

fingers crossed still for local riding first

Quote:

Originally posted by Feyd I just saw some pics of guys riding clean ice at Lac Des Arc in Alberta.

hey Feyd, can you post the link to the pics? I'd like to see if I know any of the guys.

Last year they started riding LDA black ice on October 10th !

when ever hell freezes over

Rip, do you get enough snow to ride in Richmond? Seems like you can ride (mountain bike) North Van pretty much year round.

Quote:

Originally posted by ripsessionkites Coolbreeze and I have decided to go for the last week of November THU to SUN. someone from AB, is Lac Des Arc all Black Ice??? if so we need to take our buggies. any other locations around Calgary that we can Snow Kite at the moment? im bored of watching snow kite videos. i need to get riding asap.

lac des arc's is right next to me and is Windy for sure but is also nicknamed The gust of Death lake... as it commonlly has wind gusts of up to 50 kmh over the sustained wind..

kiteboarding, maybe on the lakes if they freeze by the time you get here, but theyre a ways off still, there is plenty of open fields around here, just need to get out..

Lac Des Arc looks like a fairly small lake.Maybe a mile long and .5 miles wide?

I'm not suprised that you get 50km wind speed increases there in all those mountains. Here in New Hampshire we have sort of the same thing. What ever the wind is blowing it will double velocity in the gusts. Good for sudden bursts of speed.

ahhhhhh, sign me up.

That lake on Kananaski Trail (rout 40?) look pretty good. An that big long lake Minnewanka that runs down some valley not to far from there looks like it ges some serious winds. And must just be completely stunning visually in the winter.

We all get dressed for the European winter ICEBUGGY time ( no ice yet in the Netherlands or Germany ) But Ive got my skates out of box

Nice and sharp :singing:

Have Fun
Ruudje

Those are absolutly dazzzzzllling!

anybody in Calgary, AB seen LDA recently? Is it snow covered? I don't do the ice thing, so if there is actual snow accumulation on it, I'll be there in a snap.

Here is a little vid from 10 days ago at Big Lake, near Edmonton. I think this is the kind of ice that Ruudje is looking for. A few of the speedskaters on the ice are crazy dutchmen just like Ruudje.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4ifH1o8p4k