Snow as Insulator

[HaleSkater]

We warmed into the upper 30's a few times last week. I lost some ice around part of the perimeter of the rink and some areas became a little bumpy and porous. It's all fixed now after my bucket o' slush treatment yesterday evening and some resurfacing but it got me to thinking...

Since I tend to lose ice when we see mid or upper 30's mostly alongside 2 sides of the rink...does it make sense to cover these areas with a few inches of snow in the morning when the temp is going to get up there into the 30's?

Sure there'd be some cleanup...and maybe some resurfacing that wouldn't otherwise be necessary, but if it can help extend the life of the thing into another weekend or two it seems like a no-brainer.

Curious as to what others have done (intentionally or unintentionally) in this regard.

Thanks all,
Bob in Minneapolis

[PCMM]

don't cover up those area's with snow, it will only make things worse. my experience has been that snow covered parts of my rink always turn to slush first. When we had that snow storm last week (Toronto) I spent 4 hrs snowblowing my pond to keep as much of the ice as possible. all the edges (the last areas uncovered) were in the worst shape.