Despite frigid weather, ice isn't always safe in NH

Recent temperatures strengthen ice, but use caution

 UPDATED 8:00 AM EST Jan 25, 2013
Ice Rescue

New Hampshire is making ice.

Like the clunk in the freezer when the automated cubes drop, this week is a seasonal dropping point for anyone who enjoys ice fishing, skating, sailing across the ice or snowmobiling across those open expanses.

While Fish and Game will never tell you the ice is safe, (because it depends on where the ice you refer to is located) sustained freezing cold temperatures this week should mean that by the weekend, when it warms a tad, much of the ice is setting up solid.

But, there are exceptions to that rule.

It is best to conclude that all ice is potentially dangerous and plan for your own rescue.

You need to check for thickness, take an auger, go with a buddy and be prepared for the worst.

I recall falling through the ice, once. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.

I was skating with my mother on Turkey Pond in Concord.

We were passing underneath the Interstate Route 89 bridge and had just seen skaters safely go over the same area.

I was about 21 and my mom was about 50.

She went through first under the bridge, where there was a current and likely
weakened by road salt from above.

I heard her yell and came around the corner of the abutment to find her in the water with her arms up against the thin ice. Then I began slowly sinking into the black.

I don't remember being cold until we were safely out and had to walk about a mile in wet clothes, home to a hot bath.

But we survived thanks to other skaters.

I could not believe how hard it was to get up and back on the surface.

We had nothing, no ropes or ice picks and the sound of our voices were swallowed up by the noise of the highway traffic above. It was also dark and were were not very visible.

I kept breaking ice off as I tried to get toward the shore. Each time I would get myself up about the end of my rib cage, it would break off.

About a half mile away, there was a group of people playing pond hockey and one of them must have seen my splash.

To my relief, I saw the whole group sprinting toward us. They lay across the thin ice from person to hockey stick to person, forming a human chain that got us out of that situation.

So I have learned the hard way that not all ice is safe.

Tuesday, I went to Meredith and met Dan Dunlap, who was out testing his gas-powered auger in advance of the Great Rotary Fishing Derby, Feb. 9 and 10.

While he said it was varying in thickness where he was cutting, around the Bobhouses, there were spots near him where there was open water.

He said with the weather calling for frigid cold this next week should set up nice for the New England Pond Hockey Classic, there Feb. 1-3.

"It should be a great couple of weeks around here," he said.

So for ice, here are some general guidelines:

- Smaller ponds always freeze thicker and faster than larger water bodies. For example, the Broads in Winni are wide open now while there is safe ice on Lake Waukewan a few miles away.
- Ice thickness should be four to six inches to support a few people, dispersed around. It should be eight to 10 inches for snowmobiles. Don't take a truck or car out on the ice unless you want to lose it.
- A light gray, dark or honeycombed ice surface is likely unsafe.
- White or cloudy ice means it is refrozen and can be weak.
- Blue or black ice is clear and strong.

Avoid water inlets and outlets. They have a current flowing and are often thin ice areas.

You can test the thickness of ice with a chisel or an auger. You can also buy a pair of ice picks you can wear around your neck in case you go through. A throw rope is also helpful to have to toss to rescuers when you are out on the ice.

It certainly helps to have four or five days like we have in the forecast to grow ice and it should be moderating by the weekend to go out and enjoy it. So have fun but stay safe.

Paula Tracy writes about the outdoors for and can be reached at

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