Frozen waters

The Löschweiher pond on the Zugerberg is ready for pleasure!  With all other waters in Canton Zug the police warns:  Mortal danger!

Express:

•  There have to be 12 centimetres of ice before the surface is released to the public

 • This is not yet the case on the Steinhauser forest lake

 “Cold weather will have to continue til the middle of February.” Peter Wick, Meteonews

“I love water and ice”, exclaimed Louis Wickart of the Zuger police, who has been responsible for measuring the ice on the waters of canton Zug the past ten years. “It is an interesting job – you’re outdoors in nature and you work with people”. Yesterday Wickart could release the first natural ice field of the winter - because the Löschweiher pond on the Zugerberg has a 20 centimetres layer of ice.  But how does the patrolman come to his decision? “The first measurement is taken with the eyes”, explains Wickart.  I look at how the ice looks, near the shore.  If the ice sheet looks good, I test it with my foot.  If the ice holds and it looks like it could also support weight, I drill a hole in the ice cover.  The thickness of the ice is then measured with the finger.  The final test is done by sawing a block of the ice cover with a chain saw.  “Then one can actually see the quality of the ice exactly” says Wickart, and continues to describe:   “It needs 12 centimetres of clear ice in perfect quality for me to release the field”-  ”

Steinhauser have to wait

The ice on the Steinhauser forest lake isn’t thick enough yet according to the measurements taken yesterday.  First nature has to carry out it’s preliminary work”, says Marco Cervini, security officer in Steinhausen. Theoretically the fire-brigade could help and squirt some water on the lake. That’s what they did in previous years already. This year, after discussions with the police, we decided to wait a bit.  The ice will be measured again on Thursday and Friday.   “It needs first a stable base of  natural ice, and safety is a priority", stresses Cervini.

If several ice surfaces are approved, a hectic time begins for Louis Wickart. “Then we are out every day checking and measuring the ice in order to guarantee safety.  But for the time being this scenario is not very likely as only small ponds are freezing over. 

The fog insulates 

But what does it take for large lakes to freeze over and the layer of ice to be strong enough to be released to the public?  Cold weather would have to continue still to in the middle of February”, says Meteonews boss Peter Wick. “In addition it needs clear nights with high radiation, then we would have a chance.” But the low stratus cover prevents this for the moment. To be exact, we need to accumulate 300 minus degrees in the frost period. “We are now at approximately minus 50 degrees”, said Wipf, discouraging hope to be able to walk across the lake of Zug. . And besides the frost has to  be continuous. In 2006 there was a heat break-down caused by the föhn.   “We had released (the Aegerisee) only the day before” said Wickart . “One could watch the ice cover melting away.”

Source: Neue Zuger Zeitung