Aardwolfs Natural Ice Reports
10.45pm 16th July 2017

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.
Make the effort to go you wont regret it!!!!!!!
We RECOMMEND always having a means of retrieving people who may fall through the ice.

Having a tow rope on hand works well for this. More Safety Tips

PLEASE HELP US TELL YOU WHAT IT'S LIKE ON THE ICE

If you have been to the Ice Recently, Please send me a report:
Ph: 03 3238293, Mob for Txt :0274504399 or Email clive.m48@gmail.com ,
This allows everyone to benefit from your experience and may encourage new people to enjoy Ice Skating.
Remember to hit the REFRESH button for the latest version of this page.

Clive's Ice Skating List
Want to be added to Clive's Ice Skating list. Email me with "Opt In" in the title line. when we get a few days notice of good conditions I email  telling you when and where we are going.

 Weather information
Recent Rain Radar
High Country Met Service Forecast
Met Service 7day Mt-Olympus
 Arthur's Pass Weather
 Castle Hill Weather
Methvan Weather (from www.findu.com)
Haketere Weather by Weather Underground
Snow Forecast High Country
SouthwestPacific 180hr Forecast
SouthWestPacific Marine Weather
Alexandra Accuweather.com
Met Service 10 day Forecast for Alexandra

Videos of Natural
Ice Skating: YouTube
 Aardwolfs: here
Joe's: here
Glens: here

Natural Ice Reports
from Southern NZ:
 chipofftheiceblock

NZ Map of
Ice Skating Locations
Access Information Photos and Videos

South Island
Mt Lyford:
Lake Stella, Photos
Mt Lyford Holiday Homes Rink Photos
Arthur's Pass:
Lake Lyndon, Photos
 Red Lake East and Red Lake West, Photos
Glenthorne Station:
 Lake Ida, Photos
Lake Self, Photos
Lake Evelyn, Photos
Lake Clearwater:
 Lake Camp and Clearwater, Photos
Lake Ohau:
 Lake Middleton, Photos
Lake Pukaki:
 Pukaki Overflow Spillway, Photos
Pukaki:
 Holbrook Pond, Photos
Tekapo:
 Paterson's Ponds, Photos
Naseby:
 Coal Pit Dam, Photos
Horseshoe Lake, Photos
Hoffman's Dam, Photos
St Bathans
The Blue Lake, Photos
Wanaka:
 Diamond Lake, Photos
Oturehua:
 Idaburn Dam, Photos
Poolburn Dam Photos
Mathias Dam Photos
Eweburn Dam Photos
Alexandra:
Lower Manorburn Dam, Photos
Butchers Dam, Photos
Mount Cook:
Godley Glacier Lake, Photos
Tasman Glacier, Photos
Hooker Lake, Photos
Current Ice Rinks Outside
Stavely:
Staveley (Natural Ice), Photos
Fairlie:
 Fairile Ice Rink (Natural Ice), Photos
Mt Cheeseman:
Mt Cheeseman (Natural Ice), Photos
Tekapo:
Lake Tekapo Photos
 Naseby:
 Maniototo Ice Rink
Alexandra:
Alexandra Ice Rink Photos
Cardrona
Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds

Current Ice Rinks Inside
Christchurch:
Alpine Ice Sports Centre
Dunedin:
Dunedin Ice Stadium
Gore:
Gore Ice Skating Rink
Queenstown:
Queenstown Ice Rink

Old Ice Rinks No Longer In Use
 If you have any old photos, movies or information on Ice skating in NZ we would really appreciate your assistance in building this historical resource. Please contact us.

Christchurch
Centaurus Ice Rink
Alpine Ice Rink (Papanui)
Hororata
Hororata Domain Rink
Timaru
Timaru Ice Rink
Dunedin
The Big Chill
 Albury
Opawa Homestead
Arrowtown
Arrowtown Ice Rink
Queenstown
Bush Creek
Rum Gully
Downey's Dam
Queenstown Hill
Early Queenstown Rinks
Garston Ice Rink
Alexandra
Early Alexandra Rinks
Mt Harper
Mt Harper Ice Rink
Tekapo
Early Tekapo Rinks
Central Otago
Irishman's Creek
Synthetic Ice Outside
Wanaka
 Invercargill
Glace Ice Rink
North Island
Auckland:
Paradice Ice Skating Rinks Botany Downs and Avondale

NI Ice Rinks No Longer In Use
Hamilton
Hamilton Ice Rink
Wellington
Ice Palace
See older Photos on the Photos Pages for the individual locations for Ice Skating.
 
Natural Ice Reports for 2017
Skate Hire: Clive 033238293: 0274504399 SGI Ice Skate Services
 Looking for a ride Skating or have a spare seat. Check out: this Facebook page.
Sunday 16th July 7.18pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Ice up to 130mm on Lake Clearwater but surface softening at midday as temp reached +8deg with surface very wet. Air temp at 9.00pm 0deg, no wind

Mark Easton, Chris Holloway, Charlotte and Syd woods, Mary Ralston and Clinton Wadsworth on Lake Clearwater.
Photo by Alan Knowles
Sunday 16th July 7.18pm: Lake Camp
 From Alan Knowles by email

Clinton Wadsworth on Lake Camp. Photo by Alan Knowles
Sunday 16th July 6.05pm: Lake Evelyn
 From Christian Noah Rees by Facebook
Skated Evelyn today, Ice was pretty wet on top and softened up fairly quickly. Wasn't a frost this morning by the looks of it.
Ice was about 50mm thick, hopefully a few frosts this week and it will be good.

Hockey players on Evelyn today, Photo by Christian Noah Rees
Sunday 16th July 11.15am: Lake Camp
 From Sebas M and Ella G by Facebook
Camp is half frozen, ice about 60-80mm and much better skating, though only around the road side of the lake.
Sunday 16th July 11.15am: Lake Clearwater
 From Sebas M and Ella G by Facebook
Good Skate on Clearwater this morning, Thick ice but pretty average to skate on. Good to Meet Allan Knowles.

A morning skate at Lake Clearwater. Photo by Ella Gorden.
Sunday 16th July 6.37am: Lower Manorburn Dam
 From Reuben Cornes by email
Good day skating yesterday in Rushcutters. The ice was probably 60-100mm thick. Good quality ice but there was a few stones and other rubbish in the surface meaning high speed spills were a risk. The rest of the lake was a bit noisy, so I didn't go far out even though it looked like others had. A good day.

Looking down on Rushcutters Bay. Photo by Reuben Cornes

A good day on the Lower Manorburn. Photo by Reuben Cornes
Saturday 15th July 10.20pm: From the Editor
 From Clive Murphie
A quick THANKS to all our contributors, both regular and new, today was our busiest day ever with the most contributions on the most places to skate. I couldn't do it without you.....See you on the ice....:)
Google Analytics tells me in the last 28 days we have had 449 users having a total of 1180 sessions from  7 countries.
Saturday 15th July 9.05pm: Mt Cheeseman Rink
From Lehi Olivier by email
I Skated today at the Cheeseman ice Rink. Ice was a bit choppy and snowy but strong enough to skate on. Snow chains are needed to get there unless you want to walk some of the way.

Blue sky, snowy ice.  Photo by Lehi Olivier
Saturday 15th July 9.05pm: Lake Lyndon
From Lehi Olivier by email
Lake Lyndon has Ice that could possibly be skated on but not very thick. It is also quite choppy. Some people wandered 20Mts out but I didn't feel confident enough of the ice strength to do so.
Saturday 15th July 8.59pm: Lake Ida
From Fred van Slooten by email
Photo from the top of Porters Ski field, Make your own inferences!!!

A snowy Lake Ida about 2/3frozen. Photo by Fred van Slooten
Saturday 15th July 8.59pm: Lake Evelyn
 From Fred van Slooten by email
Photo from the top of Porters Ski field, Make your own inferences!!!
looks like Ice on Evelyn, but hard to judge the extent of the snow.

Ice and snow on the Western end of Lake Evelyn.
Photo by Fred van Slooten
Saturday 15th July 7.25pm: Idaburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
(Editors Note: Full report and great pictures at chipofftheiceblock)
Snow Ice on top of hard ice. Hard and bumpy with frost but softening in the sun,
Saturday 15th July 7.25pm: Coalpit Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Refrozen snow ice, hard and bumpy, would be OK with a frost.
Saturday 15th July 7.25pm: Poolburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Variable, some refrozen ice, snow covered in other places. Beware hidden hazards under the snow. New ice is thin.
Saturday 15th July 7.18pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Skated all day on 100mm snow ice with a rough surface. Skated the full length of Lake Clearwater.
Frost -14C last night and -4 at 7.15pm tonight with a clear sky, no wind.

Rough Ice, beautiful day on Clearwater Photo by Alan Knowles

Lots of room Lake Clearwater Photo by Alan Knowles
Saturday 15th July 5.00pm: Lower Manorburn Dam
 From Alastair Christie by email
Good Ice today especially in Rushcutters corner. A little bit "creaky" further out in the afternoon.
Skating Manorburn today. Photo by Alastair Christie
Friday 14th July 11.25pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Clearwater rough but skatable ice today, frozen snow slush 30mm over 10mm water over primary ice 80mm.
Temp at 8.00pm was -8.6 and dropping. Come early, likely to soften by midday
Friday 14th July 9.43pm: Lower Manorburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Some skatable ice in Rushcutters, but skate with the frost.
(Editors Note: Full report and great pictures at chipofftheiceblock)
Friday 14th July 9.43pm: Idaburn Dam/Coalpit Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Snow covered ice with water between, needs a thaw and refreeze.
Friday 14th July 9.43pm: Poolburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Snow covered ice but a few re-melted areas. Need a good freeze or thaw and freeze.
Nothing will be good if its warm. I sure have a dirty truck now.........
Wednesday 12th July 9.12pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Light dry powder snow fell all night and smothered the ice. Ice profile is now complex layers starting with the original ice which is very soft, a water layer, then 25mm of snow-melt slush topped with 20mm of powder snow. Yuck! At 9p.m. the snow depth was 180mm and still snowing hard.Temperature 0deg.
Tuesday 11th July 9.12pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Superb skating at the Western end of Lake Clearwater, (and the east end) on 80mm across the whole lake. We found exquisite re-melted smooth ice in the swamp. We skated east past Barneys Seat, but turned back because of thinning ice in the centre of the lake before we reached the island. We started early, 8.30 a.m. and were off before the westerly wind built in the afternoon.

Skating in the Swamp. Photo by Alan Knowles
Monday 10th July 9.12pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Good skating at the east end of Lake Clearwater on ice up to 70mm, but softening by midday. No wind. In the afternoon we visited Lake Emma which was ice covered to 50mm but too weak in the warm, ditto Lake Roundabout but had a brief skate.

Mark Easton, Chris Holloway and Charlotte Woods with Mt D'Archiac behind them.  Photo Alan Knowles
Sunday 9th July 8.11pm: Poolburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Big days skating at Poolburn, huge area of black ice.
Ice report: Poolburn on hold till the snow goes through!!!
(Editors Note: Full report and great pictures at chipofftheiceblock)
Sunday 9th July 0.00am: Lake Ida
 From Warren McKie by email
A really good skate on Ida, may be half the lake skatable with really good strong ice on the Lodge end.
Access is still via the Lake Selfe track, but is in a little better condition than it was. Took about 40 mins in and about 35 out.

Lake Ida Looking west. Photo By Warren McKie

Lake Ida Looking east. Photo By Warren McKie
Sunday 9th July 11.20pm: Red Lakes East
 From Clive Murphie
8 of us had a good skate on about 50mm of thawing ice for about an hour on Red Lakes East today before the ice became too vocal and cracked.

A "Dry Round" today at the Red Lakes. Photo By Clive Murphie
Sunday 9th July 11.20pm: Lake Evelyn
 From Clive Murphie
40mm of thawing ice, enough to stand on but not safe enough to skate.
Had to go to the western end to get on  to the ice.

Evelyn from the western end. Photo by Clive Murphie
Sunday 9th July 8.11pm: Manorburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Skatable ice out from Rushcutters corner.
(Editors Note: Full report and great pictures at chipofftheiceblock)
Sunday 9th July 8.11pm: Poolburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Good ice in the main bay. Varies elsewhere, so check first.
Track OK when frozen but muddy and slippery when thawed. Skate with the frost.
Sunday 9th July 1.39am: Lake Ida
 From Kaiden  Fletcher by txt.
Good night skate at Lake Ida tonight, 50mm of ice over 80% of the Lake. Access on to the ice was from in front of the Chalet. Frost on the ground when we left at 11.00pm. Should be good for a skate in the morning.
Sunday 9th July 2.59pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Last night minimum temp was -1deg, Ice now 70mm, weakening and getting noisy by midday. At 2.30pm temp is +8, clear sky and no wind.
Lake Clearwater is well covered with ice, best ice is still at the eastern end.
The gate to the road is unlocked.

The Eastern End of Lake Clearwater. Photo By Alan Knowles
Saturday 8th July 8.50pm: Manorburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Skatable ice in Rushcutters Bay.

Finishing the day in Moonlight.    Photo By Dave Young
Saturday 8th July 8.50pm: Poolburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Skatable ice in the main bay and some other areas. Skate the frost and have a safety plan!!! Track muddy when it thaws.

Break time at Poolburn Dam.   Photo By Dave Young
Saturday 8th July 10.41pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Lovely Skate, 3 hours on Clearwater 50mm black ice a bit noisy but got to the Island from the north side.
Lots of good Ice from Big Bay to the outlet. west end is too thin.
Temp at 4.15pm, 4deg, overcast no wind.
Temp at 10.40pm,  0deg, no wind, full moon.

Skating today on Lake Clearwater, Photo By Alan Knowles
Saturday 8th July 1.00pm: Staveley Ice Rink
 From their Facebook page.
Ice Update: after 3 great days of frosts the official measurement by Ivan Syme is sitting at 2.5 inches, requiring 4 inches of depth to open.
Pending ongoing cold conditions, the rinks could open for skating from the middle to late next week.
Saturday 8th July 0.00am: Lake Lyndon
 From Warren McKie by email
Some reasonable skating on the South end of Lyndon.
Saturday 8th July 8.45am: Lake Lyndon
 From Mike O'Connell by txt
Lyndon's south end was very vocal last evening with 45mm of ice and offered an awesome night skate under moonlight. Temp was -4
Friday 7th July 10.04pm: Lake Camp and Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by email
Lake Clearwater is covered in ice, about 2cm at the village end and 3-4cm at the eastern end. I skated for an hour in the dark on nice black ice which was still a bit thin and cracked after several passes.
Lake Camp has 1-2 cm and lots of open water.
The temperature at 9.30pm was stable at -5 with a clear sky. This is a light frost for here, and I expect only 5mm new ice to be added tonight.
Friday 7th July 8.45pm: Lake Evelyn
 From Fred van Slooten by txt
Lake Evelyn has about 35mm of ice over a large portion of the Lake.
(from Warren McKie)
Friday 7th July 8.45pm: Lake Lyndon
 From Fred van Slooten by txt
You can walk on the Lake on the southern end but it cracks. Should be skatable in the morning with the frost.
Thursday 6th July 11.10pm: Lower Manorburn Dam
 From Inge Diks from Facebook Natural Ice Otago
Drilled and measured at 11.00am, 40mm on the middle basin, with 50mm on Rushcutters, still negative temps so Saturday should be good.

New Ice at the Lower Manorburn Dam        Photo by Inge Diks
Wednesday 5th July 11.10pm: Lake Lyndon
 From Aaron Krahagen from Facebook
About 40mm of ice on the South end, I cold walk on it and it cracked, but held my weight.

Black ice on the South end of Lyndon, Photo by Aaron Krahagen
Wednesday 5th July 11.10pm: Lake Evelyn
 From Aaron Krahagen from Facebook
20mm of ice on a lot of the Lake.

Evelyn.....not enough to skate yet!!  Photo Aaron Krahagen
Wednesday 5th July 9.38pm: Lake Clearwater
 From Alan Knowles by Email
There is snow on ground at Clearwater and ice is forming at both ends of the lake, but not enough to skate last weekend.
Thursday 29th June 4.20pm: Poolburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Some skatable ice if you look, but care needed. Up to 20mm over most of the Lake. Track rough at the top, OK while it was frozen.

Foggy and cold skate at first. Photo Dave Young
Thursday 29th June 4.20pm: Idaburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
A small area of new ice near the back, up to 10mm. Water over the rest.
(Editors note: Check out Dave's site for some awesome Ice Photos)
Wednesday 28th June 4.32pm: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Clive Murphie
The Mt Cheeseman Rink was frozen and hard and about 3/4 skatable when we arrived at about 1pm, we skated for about half an hour and then in the space of 5 mins the ice turned from good to unstable, we hopped off with only one skate through the ice. We removed several stones and branches that had been thrown onto the ice before it thawed. More frosts required.

Keely, Syd and Varshana after a short skate.  Photo Clive Murphie
Wednesday 28th June 4.32pm: Lake Lyndon
 From Clive Murphie
1st ice for the season on the southern end of Lake Lyndon, 10-20mm, not enough for standing on.

A covering of ice, but not enough. Photo by Varshana Schelling
Wednesday 28th June 4.32pm: Lake Evelyn
 From Clive Murphie
Similar ice to the 17th June, but not enough to justify the walk through to Ida and back. looked like 10-15 mm with plenty of open water.
Tuesday 27th June 8.04am: St Arnaud Rink, Nelson Lakes
 From Chris Watson via email
-3.5 @ 8.00am......Cold

Ice at St Arnaud this morning.    Photo Chris Watson
Friday 23rd June 6.51pm: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Fred van Slooten via Phone
Ice soft and weak. Has had a melt at the shed end. Needs a couple of hard frosts. Won't get much tonight.
Wednesday 21st June 6.00pm: Poolburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Poolburn: up to 1-2cm over the whole lake. To thin to skate. Track gnarly. Warm and windy when I left.

Poolburn Dam, Photo by Dave Young.
Wednesday 21st June 6.00pm: Idaburn Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Idaburn: 1-2cm over half of the main bay. Needs frost.
Wednesday 21st June 6.00pm: Coalpit Dam
 From Dave Young from chipofftheiceblock
Coalpit: mostly covered about 1-2cm

Thin Ice at Coalpit Dam, Photo by Dave Young.
Saturday 17th June 8.30pm: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Clive Murphie
2/3rds skatable ice on the Cheeseman Rink today, firm but rough ice on both ends with some debris on the ice from mid week visitors...:(

A few skated today at the Cheeseman Rink. Photo Clive Murphie
Saturday 17th June 8.30pm: Lake Evelyn
 From Clive Murphie
Ice on Lake Evelyn today could not get on to see how thick it was.....I would guess not very!!!!

A beautiful day...but not much ice. Photo Clive Murphie
Saturday 17th June 8.30pm: Red Lakes East
 From Clive Murphie
Lots of ice on the Red Lakes today...just not very thick 10-15mm needs several heavy frosts

No...that's not quite enough.   Photo Clive Murphie

Lots of thin ice on the Red Lakes today. Photo Clive Murphie
Friday 16th June 10.13pm: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Fred van Slooten via Phone
About 2/3 of the rink is skatable with some rubbish on the ice, its a little soft this evening, still skatable, but it is hardening up and should good tomorrow with the frost in the morning.
Sunday 11th June 9.03am: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Fred van Slooten via email

New Ice Hockey Recruits    Photo Fred van Slooten
Saturday 10th June 10.03am: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Fred van Slooten via email
Skated on Cheeseman last night.  Temp had just risen up to 7 degrees with Nor'wester kicking in.
Ice softening but still a good surface. Not a lot of margin for strength. Good ice in middle of rink but too thin on the tree side and lodge end.
It looks like they may still have ended the night with a light frost looking at the Castle Hill temps so could still be skatable.

Seasons First Tracks to Fred van Slooten, Photo Karl van Slooten
Monday 7th June 11.06am: St Arnaud Rink, Nelson Lakes
 From Chris Watson via email
St Arnaud this morning about 20mm of ice.

Not enough yet.  Photo by Chris Watson

A good start, more frost required. Photo Chris Watson
Monday 5th June 11.05am: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Chris Watson/CSAWW via facebook
Video Report from Canterbury Snow and Weather Watch on Facebook:
Ice on the Cheeseman Rink: Canterbury Snow and Weather Watch was live. - Canterbury Snow and Weather Watch
Looks like the cold spell has frozen the Cheeseman Rink, hopefully skating soon.
Monday 5th June 3.43pm: Mt Cheeseman Rink
 From Karl van Slooten via facebook
We had a look last night at the Cheeseman Rink. Snow ice over most of the rink apart from one corner near the trees. Hard to say what the thickness was but would only be about 10mm of very weak snow ice, but at least it's a start. Rink water level seems to be good as last year it was a bit high and overflowed.

Archives
2016 Wednesday13th July-Saturday13th August

 
Other Places to visit for Skating Videos and Photos
Aardwolfs You Tube site: here
Joe's You Tube site: here
Glens You Tube site: here
David Young's Blog: here
Ryan Hellyer's Homepages: here
Archives
2016 Wednesday13th July-Saturday13th August
 2016  Wednesday 25th May-Tuesday 12th July
2015 (3) Tuesday 21st July-Thursday 13th August
2015 (2) Monday 29th June-Monday 20th July
2015 Friday 29th May-Sunday 28th June
2014 Monday 26th May-Tuesday 9th September
2013 Monday 22nd April-Tuesday 16th July
 2012 (3) Wednesday 18th July to Tuesday 7th August 
2012 (2) Sunday 30th June to Tuesday 17th July
 2012 Sunday 28th April to Sunday 24th June
 2011 (2) Monday 1st August to Tuesday 23rd August
2011 Saturday 4th June to Sunday 31st July
2010(3)Wednesday 14th July to Wednesday 11th August
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.
Some of the events above may have no  association with the Aardwolfs Ice Hockey Club.
All graphics and written material (c) Aardwolfs Ice Hockey Club 2004