Aardwolfs Ice Hockey Club
| Aardwolfs Natural Ice Reports |
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| 12th August 2010 12.15am |
Aardwolfs Ice Hockey Club |
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DISCLAIMER: These reports are based on: phone calls, emails, trips to the ice, lakes and ponds. Please NOTE that YOU SKATE AT YOUR OWN RISK and these reports only give you an idea of what to expect when you arrive. Conditions can change very quickly in the mountains and though we make every effort to keep these reports current in season, please be careful when skating.
Remember: ICE SKATING on NATURAL ICE can be dangerous.
Having a tow rope on hand works well for this.
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Safety Tips |
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HELP US TELL YOU WHAT ITS LIKE ON THE ICE
If you have been to the
Ice Recently. Please
Ring: 03 3238293, |
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For videos of Natural Ice Skating check out the
Aardwolfs YouTube website, and some of the Photos pages http://www.youtube.com/user/Aardwolfs |
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Weather information |
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| Natural Ice Reports for 2010 | |
| Skate Hire Staveley : Staveley Store: 033030859 | |
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Wednesday 11th August 9.39pm:
Lower Manorburn Dam From David Young by email. |
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| Still some ice in the middle basin. Skateable in Rushcutters bay. Had a night skate on hard smooth ice. To dark to check elsewhere. | |
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Sunday 8th August 9.30am: Lake Lyndon From Joe Morgan by email. |
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Weather conditions: Snowing and WET. All the ice is gone. A wet and cold Lake Lyndon: Photo by Joe Morgan |
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Saturday 7th August 5.48pm: Poolburn Dam From David Young by email. |
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| Poolburn had several large areas of ice but was melted at the edges. Had to hunt for a place to get on with a plank and had a good skate in one area but again had to be careful to keep on safe ice. Ice was creaking and beginning to melt fast as I left. Won't last in this weather. | |
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Saturday 7th August 5.48pm: Idaburn Dam From David Young by email. |
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Idaburn had skate-able ice over half of the main area. A
plank was needed to get on as the edges had melted. Good skate on hard ice but care needed to stay in the safe area. Won't last in this weather |
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Tuesday 3rd August 8.10pm: Manorburn Dam From David Young by email. |
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Still thick ice in Rushcutters bay - thinning out to 50mm in the
middle of the main basin with water at either end. The Ice was full of
air bubbles and weakening in the sun. Water in the top and bottom
basins. Had a good ( but bumpy) skate on hard ice in Rushcutters and out
towards the middle - too unsafe anywhere else. Might be last skate this
year.
 Rough Ice and beautiful blue sky. Photo by Dave Young. |
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Monday 2nd August 5.11pm: Lake Ida From Warren McKie by email. |
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There is a collection of Ice flows in the Lodge corner,
no ice on the Enclosure, the Hockey Rink is almost covered but with a 3mt
gap round the edges. A realistic walking time for the track in would be
50-90 mins depending on gear and fitness. All that's left of the Ice at Ida. Photo by Warren McKie. |
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Saturday 31st July 2.15pm: Lake Ida From Neil verbally. |
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| It was windy with about half the lake frozen at Lake Ida on Saturday the Ice was breaking up as we watched and there was about 2 cm of water over the ice from the North West'er, large blocks of ice were being blown towards the Chalet. with the winds forecast for Sunday the Ice probably wont last the weekend. | |
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Saturday 31st July 3.13pm: Manorburn Dam From Joe Morgan by txt. |
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Manorburn Dam is looking good and a great skate today. Skate cam from Ange doing spins on the Northwest groomed Manorburn Dam today, Video from Joe Morgan |
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Saturday 31st July 3.13pm: Fraser's Dam From Joe Morgan by txt. |
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| Not Skateable today. Google Earth coordinates: 45,12.33,35 S 169,12.45.45 E | |
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Saturday 31st July 6.23pm: Poolburn Dam From Ryan Hellyer by txt and email. |
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Good Ice on Poolburn Dam though it is melting in the Sun.
Estimated 100 to 150 mm ice (didn't have long enough drill bit) across
almost entirety of reservoir. We did need to get out and walk for 200 - 300
m due to an expanse of water behind the island to get in a full lap though,
the ice surface was plenty thick enough for skating. The north westerly was playing havoc with the ice and it was starting to melt quite badly towards lunch time with a fine sliver of water on the surface. Ice at dam face was very thick and good quality as was the small inlet beside the dam. Most of the rocks were surrounded by water. The heat of the sun has clearly melted all of the original solid ice which was around them the last time we were there. There is a huge pressure crack heading right out of the main basin towards the other side of the island. One particular section would have been great to launch off of if you felt like doing some aerial skating :) It had a glassy smooth ramp with at least a 50 cm high ramp leading to solid ~150 mm thick ice. |
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Friday 30th July 4.19pm: Manorburn Dam From Keith Dickson via Ryan Hellyer by txt/email. |
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| The Lower Manorburn dam has good ice it is rough in places There is plenty of room as Keith is the only person skating on it at the moment!! | |
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Tuesday
27th July 6.43pm: Idaburn Dam From Dave Young by email. |
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| Idaburn - thick ice in main area. No ice in the Gorge, Ice with a layer of snow ice on top. Bumpy with some smooth areas. Frozen puddles on the ice in some places. Ok skate - will be better when (if) the ice puddles freeze properly. With frost it will hold for a few days. | |
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Tuesday
27th July 6.43pm: Manorburn Dam From Dave Young by email. |
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| Manorburn - Plenty of ice in Middle Basin. Ice in other basins. Water in the neck. Surface similar to Idaburn. Good skating on the Middle Basin if you are early. (Frosts Pleeeze!) | |
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Tuesday
27th July 6.43pm: Poolburn Dam From Dave Young by email. |
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| Poolburn. Thick ice in the main bay. Thins out and weakening in the sun around the side and back of the main island. Re-frozen snow ice on top of ordinary ice. Some water at the edges and around rocks. Snow skiffs in places. Melt coming soon! Great skate on hard (but bumpy in places) ice. Track has deep ruts up top and very slippery as the day warms. | |
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Monday
26th July 4.32pm: Lake Middleton From Ron James by email. |
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Very thin with some Ducks swimming in it Lake Middleton, Photo by Ron James |
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Monday
26th July 4.48pm:Manorburn Dam From Ron James by email. |
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Lots and lots of Ice. Looking East from the Middle Basin, Photo by Ron James  Looking West from the Middle Basin, Photo by Ron James |
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Monday
26th July 4.12pm: Fairlie Ice Rink From Ron James by email. |
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The Ice is a little thin with open water at one end. The Rink at Fairlie. Photo by Ron James. |
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Monday
26th July 4.30pm: Pond by Mt Cook turn off From Ron James by email. |
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Joe filming on a random pond near the Mt Cook turn off.
Pavlova Snow Ice  Joe on a random pond, Photo by Ron James |
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Monday
26th July 4.23pm: Pukaki Spillway From Ron James by email. |
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Snow Ice to thin to skate on: Pukaki Spillway, Photo by Ron James |
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Saturday
24th July 2.47pm: Hoffman's Dam From Ryan Hellyer by email. |
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| Hoffman's Dam had 60 mm+ of snow ice. We didn't skate on it, but ice looked pretty good and definitely worth skating on if you have the time. | |
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Saturday
24th July 2.47pm: Manorburn Dam From Ryan Hellyer by txt. |
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Good 140mm of ice on the middle basin at Manorburn Dam.
The same on the top basin in parts but also lots of open water. Access was
over a rock. Skated the neck on the way out, a bad idea as the ice was very
marginal. Massive cracking and waves of ice. Very close to going in!!! The
lower basin has about 80mm almost able to skate to the concrete wall by the
dam. Skating the neck between the Upper and Middle basins at Manorburn Dam: Video by Ryan Hellyer |
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Saturday
24th July 1.04pm: Idaburn Dam From Ryan Hellyer by txt. |
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| 150mm of good snow ice in the main basin at Idaburn Dam, also looked like you might be able to skate in the valley down by the Dam. | |
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Saturday
24th July 1.02pm: Coalpit Dam From Ryan Hellyer by txt. |
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| Good snow ice on the shady side of Coal Pit Dam. About 100mm thick maybe more, melting on the other side of the Dam in the sun. | |
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Tuesday
20th July 9.10pm: Lower Manorburn Dam From David Young by email. |
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| Lower Manorburn - thick ice in whole centre basin. Water on the surface but a good skate. Some ice in the other basins. If frosts come back it will hold. | |
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Tuesday
20th July 6.45pm: Lake Ida/Glenthorne Station From Clive Murphie. |
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Due to an incident recently at the Lake Ida Gate, I have
been emailed by a representative of Glenthorne Station, requesting that I
amend our access instructions to Lake Ida to reflect their Public Access
Policy. The following Link: http://www.glenthorne.co.nz/public-access-to-glenthorne-station takes you to their website. Please note the "NO DOGS" provision when anywhere on the the Glenthorne Station, this includes Lake Evelyn and Lake Self. Please respect their requests and follow their directions. |
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Tuesday
20th July 12.29pm: Lake Clearwater From Alan Knowles via txt. |
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| The Ice at Lake Clearwater is breaking up fast, about 400mts of ice has gone since noon on Monday. Weather conditions are strong NW winds. | |
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Monday 19th July 11.59pm: Lake Evelyn From Clive Murphie. |
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Lake Evelyn was softening tonight, there's still plenty
of ice and we had a good skate, but it's thawing, air temp's were 8-10
degrees with a light wind. That is until we left, then the Northwest started
blowing. Forecast for tomorrow is 70km/hr N/W winds and snow to 600mts. More
frosts needed before we skate again. Night Skate at Lake Evelyn: Clive, Joe, Lance and Ron. Photo by Ron James |
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Sunday 18th July 8.27pm: Lake Ida and Little Lake Ida From Ron James by email. |
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Lots of Ice on both Ida and Little Lake Ida, Lake Ida has
the best surface at the moment. Walking back from Little Lake Ida over the Main Lake Photo by Ron James. |
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Sunday 18th July 10.07am: Lake Evelyn From Joe Morgan by satellite phone. |
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Lake Evelyn is foggy at the moment though we are
expecting it to clear soon, lots of ice, some of its rough but having a
great skate, we will be going through to Ida later today. The crew at Lake Evelyn today, Photo by Ron James |
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Saturday 17th July 5.59pm: Lake Evelyn From Bradley McMahon by txt. |
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| Lake Evelyn today had 180mm of ice at the head of the lake, thinner in patches, sometimes rough but defiantly skateable, had a great day. | |
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Friday
16th July 10.37am: Manorburn Dam From David Young by txt. |
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| Manorburn locked in all over, there's plenty of ice, the surface is rough in places but its a great skate. Go early and skate the whole dam. | |
| Thursday 15th July 11.14pm: Lake Clearwater, Emma and Camp From Alan Knowles by email. | |
| Skated Clearwater and Emma today - plenty of thick ice 100mm. Camp also good skating. | |
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Thursday
15th July 6.15pm: Lake Ida From John Gaynor by Phone |
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| The main lake is 3/4 frozen with 120-150mm of black ice, a great skate today, no snow and no rain on the ice yet. Still very firm and should last well. | |
| Monday 12th July 10.30pm: Upper Manorburn and the Greenland Reservoir. From David Young From YouTube | |
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Organised
by special arrangement,
access to these reservoirs in winter
is extremely limited due to an officially closed road, difficult road
conditions and private land rights., the
Upper Manorburn Dam and the Greenland Reservoir, (Google Earth Co-Ordinates:
-45,25'35.33 S 169,37'51.55) Snowy Ice not giving the best skating
conditions. Huge areas with bleak surrounding. Alan Knowles Dave P and Mark Eastern: Video by David Young |
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Tuesday
13th July 10.30pm: Lake 35 From Joe Morgan by Email |
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If you are worried about skating on thin ice, this video
will show you how thin you can go, this is a good example of what we call
"One Person Ice" Watch the flex in the Ice surface............:-) Ron skating at Lake 35, Video By Joe Morgan |
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| Other Places to visit for Skating Videos and Photos | |
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Joe's You Tube site: here David Young's Blog: here Ryan Hellyer's Homepages: here |
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| Archives | |
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2010(2)Wednesday
8th July to Tuesday 13th July 2010Saturday 29th May to Wednesday 7th July 2009(3)Thursday 9th July to Saturday 15th August 2009(2)Tuesday 30th June to Tuesday 8th July 2009 Sunday 6th June to Saturday 28th June 2008 Saturday 31st May to Sunday 27th July See older Photos on the Photos Pages for the individual locations for Ice Skating. |
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Some of the events above may have no association with the Aardwolfs Ice Hockey Club |