Questions tagged [ice]
Questions about dealing with ice
31
questions
74
votes
18
answers
70k
views
Which will keep my food colder longer, draining the melted ice water, or leaving it in the cooler?
Say you have a cooler of frozen food and ice to last for several days or weeks of river-trip / car camping. To keep things as a cold as possible for as long as possible, is it better to leave the cold ...
- 19k
54
votes
7
answers
11k
views
Is it dangerous to rope together on an ascent of hard packed ice?
This image has recently come under considerable criticism on social media for dangerous mountaineering practices. The location is unknown as the qualified mountain guide observer wanted to maintain ...
- 2,889
24
votes
7
answers
8k
views
Are Ice grips worth buying?
The cold weather has finally hit the UK and once again I am tempted to buy something like Yaktrax Pro Ice Grips. For those of you not in the UK we get some snow each year (enough to make everything ...
- 1,196
24
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Ice skating on a frozen lake -- how thick should the ice be?
When ice skating on a frozen lake or river, how thick should the ice be in order to have fairly high confidence you aren't going to fall through?
A small drill (for ice fishing) is available to ...
- 3,653
22
votes
15
answers
46k
views
What's the best way to avoid slipping on ice?
Where I live, winter is still a good bit away, but last year I slipped on ice and ended up with a black eye and a broken wrist. This year I sincerely want to reduce the chances of that recurring.
I ...
- 323
21
votes
5
answers
6k
views
How can I find the safest place to cross a frozen river from a map?
Where is the better chance the ice on the frozen river in winter will be thicker and safer to cross?
I expect the river width oscillates between the following conditions:
on a shallow, wider, slower ...
- 311
21
votes
2
answers
3k
views
If one falls through the ice while ice fishing alone, how might one get out?
I was talking to a friend from Michigan recently, and she mentioned how short the ice fishing season on her small lake was this year. This naturally led to the safety of ice-fishing, and how one ...
- 23.9k
20
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What is the proper technique for self-arrest when wearing crampons?
What is the proper technique to self-arrest and brake a fall, given steep icy (frozen snow) slope, when wearing crampons and wielding an ice axe? Should the crampons be used for stopping or held high ...
- 6,871
18
votes
3
answers
7k
views
How to walk as a roped party on a glacier?
If you want to walk on a glacier you usually do this roped together as a team.
How to walk as a roped party on a glacier?
What I have to pay attention to when knotting the rope?
Related question: ...
- 1,491
18
votes
5
answers
5k
views
How do locals (short of drilling) determine that lake ice is safe for skating, ice fishing, snowmobiling, skiing?
This question is not a duplicate of either (1) Ice skating on a frozen lake -- how thick should the ice be?, which only asks how thick the ice should be; or (2) How to determine the thickness of ice?,...
- 23.9k
18
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Can microspikes replace crampons when crossing ice in summer?
When hiking in early summer I often come across patches of old snow. Till now I have managed to cross those by cutting my steps in the snow or walking around. And whenever I had my hiking sticks with ...
- 3,454
14
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How to be safe on lake and river ice and what should I do when I fall through?
It's late October and in cold, northern hemisphere climates, winter has arrived, and moderate northern hemisphere climates will follow soon. In my area, small lakes are already frozen and people have ...
- 27.2k
13
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How can I perfect my backyard ice rink?
I live in the northeast US and have a depression in my backyard: after weeks of freezing weather we had a warm, rainy weekend. Then it all froze =)
So now I have a backyard rink, about 100' x 50' (...
- 242
13
votes
6
answers
554
views
How to avoid the layer of ice inside a water bottle during winter activities?
Is there a special way to avoid the layer of ice that forms inside a water bottle during winter activities?
- 3,076
13
votes
1
answer
435
views
How to determine the thickness of ice?
Thinking about going ice fishing this winter but I am worried about falling through thin ice. I know that ice should be at least 4 inches (10 cm) if clear and 8 inches (20 cm) if cloudy, but how can ...
- 488
12
votes
4
answers
1k
views
What are the correct techniques for rescuing someone who has fallen through the ice?
If someone where to fall through the ice on a lake or a pond, what would be some correct ways of rescuing them?
This question is inspired mostly by this video, where one person gets too close to the ...
- 69.3k
11
votes
5
answers
2k
views
River crossing in winter?
So we were out looking for some new ice to climb today and discovered this short pitch of ice:
There's only one problem:
The ice is on the wrong side of a rather wide creek. The nearest crossings ...
- 53.5k
10
votes
1
answer
830
views
Self rescue procedure when falling through ice, but the ice keeps breaking
There are a lot of videos and instructions out there on what to do when you fall through ice: You turn the direction you came from, pull and kick until you get out and roll yourself to safety.
But ...
- 852
8
votes
2
answers
266
views
What conditions would lead to lake ice being extremely clear?
There is a video where a couple of people are walking on extremely clear lake ice.
Usually, lake ice is far less clear, what conditions on this lake would lead to the unusual clarity?
- 69.3k
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is an ice circle, and how does it form?
I've seen ice do a lot of strange things, but I've never seen it do this before: Ice Circle spinning on Middle Fork Snoqualmie River (Vimeo).
What causes ice circles to form?
- 53.5k
6
votes
2
answers
376
views
What is this raised, icy-looking structure, found at the edge of a partially frozen lake?
Last month, in February, my husband was walking on a trail in the woods in Massachusetts, alongside a fresh-water lake. The temperatures had been fluctuating a lot over the winter, so some areas were ...
6
votes
1
answer
4k
views
How to identify good winter boots for walking on ice?
I just saw this BBC news clip Does Canada have the solution to slipping on ice? at about 1:20 into the clip (not counting the commercial) a scientist says "most footwear performs poorly" he also says ...
- 30.3k
6
votes
1
answer
119
views
Distinguish iced snow from powder
We found ourselves in a pretty dangerous situation once. We were snowboarding in the backcountry and came to a spot where a rock on the left side and a slope on the right side built a path (about 3 ...
- 23.4k
6
votes
1
answer
276
views
What are the differences between boats and "ice yachts"?
A comment on a different question suggests that an ice yacht (or iceboat), a boat made for going over ice instead of through water, is not merely a water boat with skates strapped on for ice, but that ...
- 3,536
5
votes
1
answer
788
views
Gear for slush-over-ice
I hike in all seasons and weathers. I love the old adage there is no bad weather only bad gear. My Kahtoola microspikes are excellent when there is hard ice on the trail. Turns a sheet of ice into a ...
- 153
4
votes
2
answers
336
views
How and when to sharpen ice screws?
Ice screws need to be sharp to be placed into the ice, and just like anything with an edge they will get dull over time.
How would one know when to sharpen an ice screw, and once they do need to be ...
- 69.3k
4
votes
1
answer
188
views
Bathing outdoors in low temperature, high altitude environment
I know that cold weather can be dangerous, especially if one is not in proper winter wear. But I came across a video whereby a person is seen digging ice for water and bathing in an icy, mountainous ...
- 143
4
votes
1
answer
354
views
Is ice-skating on lakes or ponds a sport in Iran (or Central Asia)?
This exchange of comments on English Language and Usage got me to wondering if outdoor ice-skating is or was ever a sport in Iran (or central Asia). Certainly it gets cold enough in parts of Iran.
...
- 23.9k
4
votes
2
answers
228
views
Ice fishing: ice rods, jigs and tipups explained
I am trying to learn about basic ice fishing and literally every article I read and every YouTube video I have seen so far, seems to use the following concepts interchangeably, even though I know they ...
- 341
3
votes
1
answer
303
views
Fish Flasher - Reading Bottom
When using a flasher type fish finder, a hard bottom is displayed as a wide red band on the screen indicating a good return signal. The wide red band in the picture below covers between 10 and 12 feet....
- 1,847
2
votes
0
answers
148
views
How many boats have been found encased in ice but still accessible?
I was watching National Treasure again today and the scene in which Cage and his team discover and explore the Charlotte made me curious. They find the ship buried under ice and snow, yet, though ...
- 21