Season Winding Down

[kevmac]

I don't know how the rest of you are doing but February has been an awful month for the backyard rink. I have been dealing with +5'C/41'F on and off for the last week and a half. The last decent cold snap was Feb 11-12 and wouldn't you know it, I was laying on the couch that weekend battling bronchitis and pneumonia - I don't recommend this.

Looking at the forecast and knowing my ice base is rapidly turning to mush, with a little work (okay, more like a lot of work) I might be able to revive the old girl for a couple of more days as the highs next week are hovering around the melting point with some 'decent' lows overnight.

How are everyone else's rinks holding up? What's the latest in the season you have ever skated on the ODR?

[ah1fgunner]

Ha, sounds the same as everywhere else! I too have had a hell of a time keeping the rink together this winter (or early spring as I now call it). I was shoveling off the last dumping of wet snow last night and will try to recover it again tonight. The 15 day forecast for Minnesota is pretty good. If I can get it together tonight, we may just get another couple of weeks out of it (fingers crossed). Good luck on yours....

[Chris]

My rink is doing alright. Its thick enough that it will still be skateable if we get any cold weather. The latest I skated was last year I was able to use about half my rink on april 7th (In shorts and a t-shirt)(weird yet awesome feeling haha) last year because I had huge slope in my yard and the thickest point on the ice was 22" haha there were ice chunks in my backyard until almost may.

[kevmac]

Spent the better of the morning and early afternoon clearing the 20cm of snow we got yesterday and scraping it clean down to the ice. I slapped two coats of water onto the base at -6'C (~21'F) to get rid of the rough spots around 2pm - it looks good. Temperatures are supposed to drop to -13'C (~9'F) overnight so I'll be adding more water this evening and maybe even get in a skate. High tomorrow is supposed to be -5'C so I will definitely be spending the day on the rink after my league game in the morning. Highs for the rest of the week will be hovering around the freezing point so we might be able to get in some evening skates as well. *fingers crossed*

[ah1fgunner]

I can relate Chris, my deep corner is 26". Believe it or not, there is still soft water in that corner. If I reach a finger under the boards, I can push the liner, seems kinda weird that after almost 3 months of freezing temps that there is still liquid there. I any case, I'm sure I will have rink remnants (ice chunks) late into the spring too.

[Matt]

took everything apart two days ago. we haven't had anything over an inch of ice for three weeks.

[kevmac]

Check out the temperature swing they are forecasting in Ottawa next week - a 30 degree shift. I'm still holding out hope that I am skating for 3 more days. *fingers crossed*

[rinkratjoey]

I have declared our Pond Hockey Season "Over" for the year. Keep fighting the good fight, Kevmac!!!

[kevmac]

50 km/hr winds with gusts up to 80 km/hr (or 31 mph and ~50mph for my friends south of the 49th parallel) have reeked havoc on the ice today. I've gone out several times already today to pick up leaves, seeds, twigs and branches - both small and large.

They are still calling for a low of -9'C tonight and double digit lows for Sunday, Monday & Tuesdays... banking on at least 3 more evenings of skating. If there's a pulse, I'll keep pounding on that chest!

[ah1fgunner]

That's the spirit Kev! I'm doing the same thing, the last week has been back breaking work. 1st, removing 4-5 inches of slush, then repairing the pock-marked ice and shaving the bumps. Yesterday was worth it all, my son had half of his mite team skating all afternoon. I did a quick finish on the ice last night and they will be tearing it up all day again today - after their game at the indoor rink that is. But then there's tomorrow and next weeks forecast of 5 consecutive high 40's to low 50's F. Tonight we will retire the girl for the season and start the improvement planning and variance process for next season. What great memories that we make in our cold and snowy yards....