Snow issues please help

[Jmcheech19]

Salisbury Ma - I flooded my rink on sun 12/29/13 we hare having a nice stretch of cold weather. The forecast at first didn't mention snow but now we are getting a good storm 8-12 inches. I have good top layer of ice but worried about standing on the ice to shovel the snow off. What are my options? Do I put a clear tarp over the ice to cover from the snow getting on the ice? Any advice is very appreciated this my first build 24x40 rink

Please help

[Jeff22]

If you can get hold of a roof rake, you may be able to pull the snow off without stepping on the ice.

[Jmcheech19]

Thanks my man I appreciate it

[Joe]

You say you have a "good top layer of ice" but you're worried about standing on it. So I ask: can you stand on it? If so, clean as normal. If not, my advice would be to wait mainly because of the temps we're getting the next two days - below 0 for a lot of the next 36 hours, and in the low teens today. It's true that snow insulates the ice and makes it freeze slower, but with these temps, it may still get thicker in the next couple days. I'd hold off on the roof rake until you have no other options...especially with a warm trend and rain coming Sunday/Monday. If you leave an uneven mess with the roof rake, then it melts some and we get freezing rain on top of it, you're going to have a brutal surface. If this were my rink, I'd be testing to see if it holds my weight every 12 hours or so for the next two days, and hopefully once it holds you you can shovel.