Skating on natural ice is different than on a Zamboni'd indoor rink.  Because the ice can have bumps, ruts, and even a dusting of snow, its much easier to skate in special "nordic skates".  The blade of a nordic skate is different, and clips into a cross-country ski boot.  The blade is often even a little longer than a speedskate blade (think  Bonnie Blair-type skates), and is probably more than double the length of a hockey skate or figure skate blade.  Besides the longer length, the other advantage of a nordic skate is that it is a "tall" blade coupled with a "prow" as the front edge to cut over ruts and even a little bit of snow.  (Here's a link to buy blades: http://www.nordicskater.com/blades.html ) 

I'm hoping for good, snow free conditions on the Hennepin at some point this winter.  We are getting closer--the ice was starting to freeze in places this week from one report I had, and should start to freeze more over the weekend.  Last winter, a record of sorts was set in Chicago for bitter cold without any snow cover (I don't know the exact stat but heard about it on the Weather Channel--this was the same weather system that set in over the upper Midwest about the time of the NFC Championship game in Green Bay, WI, and not only was the Hennepin frozen but so was NY Giants coach Tom Coughlin's face). 

Ideally the ice surface will be smooth and free of ruts.  The nordic blades can deal with a little bit, but the less the ice is like an indoor rink, the slower skating becomes.  For some of the outdoor ice skating tours, the hosts typically mount a brush or plow to an ATV and smooth of the ice, but many of these tend to be 10km loops on a frozen lake rather than point-to-point. 

 


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