UKC

The loch is completely frozen right now and loads of people were out today walking on it.

Interesting episode when the 16 of us posed for a picture and the ice cracked and sank below our feet. Be careful when it thaws.....

In reply to Donald M:

I saw that today, was just waiting to see someone go through it. We only stopped briefly though so didnt go out onto it.

In reply to Donald M: Hmmm. Any idea of the thickness, was it just thick enough to stand on near the shore or throughout? I ask as I fancy a bit of ice fishing.

In reply to fishy1:

About 4 inches to 8 inches. You will have major trouble getting through it.

In reply to telemarker: My father in law, who is from New York state, has story of an ice-fisherman using his car to get on to the ice (only in the US, I know), starting fishing and then hearing a loud crack and realizing he was now on an iceberg. He apparently jumped but lost his car.

In reply to Donald M:

It's pretty thick right across the Loch - I think!
In the past I've seen people drive over it.
Today we couldn't get it to creak never mind crack...
I took some videos of Fi skating on it and posted it on the blog at http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/blog/mountain_diary.htm

In reply to Ron Walker:

You were standing in the wrong place then or didnt have enough weight. Find 15 others and stand in the one spot where it is at its thinnest.

In reply to Donald M:

Should be good for building ice screw belays!!!

Out of interest the amount of rubbsh people were throwing and dumping out onto the ice. We even came across a CD player that looked as though it had been ripped out of a car!!

In reply to Donald M: An ice screw would do it then, short pole down the hole, with a line on the end, leave for a while. Pole is so you don't cut the line when retriving the fish. Then, pull line up, if a fish is on, it wont come through the hole, so then, cut a larger hole, with ice axe, or something. Can't wait.

In reply to fishy1:

Through 4 to 8 inches of ice? :-/

In reply to petestack:


http://www.drockicecenter.com/augers.html

In reply to petestack: 4 inches, yes. Especially as you effectively have a pilot hole. If neccessary, just made several more holes close to it, and cut to join them up. After getting most of the way through, it'd come out more easily as it fractured through the bottom. And even if it does take an hour a hole, there's a fish at the end of it. Now I've just got to convince a friend to come down too. Won't be tommorrow, as it's late tonight already. Maybe the day after.

In reply to Removed User: I have come across a couple of them when over in finland, but it's not something I think worth buying for occasional use in scotland.

In reply to Removed User:

Never mind your augers, I was questioning the practicability of chopping the hole with an ice axe!

In reply to fishy1:

And 8 inches?

(Not saying you can't, but how long's it going to take?)

In reply to petestack: All good things take time. But yeah, I'll be looking for the thinner bits. And working as a team of two, one cutting until exhausted, then switch, and so on.

Not sure how thick it is but I saw a woman pushing a pram on the ice. A tad irresponsible I think.

In reply to fishy1:

Sounds great fun. Stick to cafes up the Ben Id say.

In reply to joeydurkin: We must have been close, I saw the same pushchair being pushed over the ice!! No telling what was in the pushchair, but you'd hope it wasn't what was supposed to be in it.

In reply to shaunhvs: Tinnies?

In reply to MG: Back in late 1980's /very early 1990's, a light weight landrover was driven to the centre of the Loch Morlich and back.
Not just in the USA do we find 'special' people.
Not sure how thick the ice would need to be to support the weight, probably a lot less than we would all think, no more than three or four inches or so i would guess.
Some of our northern friends from Sweden or Norway may have the answer to that one.
Not something I would do mind, even with no roof on the landy!

In reply to timmy-ts:

The advised minimum depth of ice for the ice road truckers in Alaska is around 36", and some of their trucks weigh upto 100tons.

So i imagine that a landy would be no problem on 6-12" ice.

In reply to rusty_nails: I reckon with some chunky tyres it would be fun on a bike, just be sure not to fall off too hard.

In reply to Donald M: There was bike and car tracks on the Loch on saturday, Admittedly the car tracks did not extend very far in.

Alan

Theoretically 'safe' thickness of ice for different weights; from Schotts original miscellany, Ben Schott. Not sure exactly how it was calculated, it assumes solid blue/black ice.
all values in inches

single person on skis 1.5
single person on foot 2.5
Group in single file 3
Snowmobile 3
Average car 7.5
Large car 8
Medium truck3.5 tons 9
7tons 10
15 tons 15
25 tons 20
45 tons 25
70 tons 30
I am not sure whether these values are factored.
Don't blame me if it isn't right.
Ron

In reply to ronbo:

When we were dogsledding in Sweden we crossed a few lakes that were a bit 'slushy' for my liking. The guide just said "If in doubt, wait for a snowmobile to cross first. If they make it, then a dog sled will. If they don't... "

In reply to Donald M:

From the Met Office Website:

Take Note: Please do not walk onto frozen Lakes or Tarns. Think about what would happen if the ice gives way.... Who is going to help you? At best Mountain Rescue will be with you in 45 minutes, Can you hold your breath and stay warm for that long.... NO.... SO PLEASE DO NOT WALK ON FROZEN LAKES OR TARNS. We care about you!

Y.

In reply to fishy1: what do you expect to catch thats legally in season?

In reply to Yrmenlaf: i've skied across lochs just about every winter for the last 10 years...most smallish hill loch/lochans are very safe (in scotland anyway) as long as they're high up and you use a bit of sense. i used to go on loch leven as a kid....wouldn't do that these days but they have played curling on it in the past.

In reply to Fawksey: I expect the ice to hold until the 15th of march, I'd never do anything bad. The trip coming soon is uh, just a test, with no hooks.

In reply to Donald M:

I was there on Saturday - Someone was in the - near middle of the loch bouncing a rock off the ice.

The sound echo was quite good, I also hung around to see if the hollowhead
would end up wet.

In reply to rusty_nails:

Good photo rusty - you have me and my family in the shot.

In reply to rusty_nails:

Rusty,

Can you please e-mail me the top photo.

Thank you

In reply to john 284:

I was doing that on Friday afternoon. Amazing sounds you get. There was a bunch of people near the car park shore bouncing a 6ft log off, what a fantastic noise, the loch acting like a spectral delay filter. We walked about halfway across the loch just before sunset on Friday, not many people about then. Had a good look at the cracks extending all the way from N to S shores - seemed to have formed during the day and then refrozen. Though about camping out in the middle but had already booked a bed in the youth hostel by then.