Gunflint Lodge owner John Fredrikson plowed what is possibly the largest ice-skating trail in the United States on Gunflint Lake. This video was produced by Matthew Baxley for WTIP North Shore Community Radio.
Please note the video was shot more than a month ago and ice conditions can always change rapidly.
An animated projection project called Friends of the Light centers around visual art created by Emily Koch and Tara Austin. Their brush strokes were recorded, animated and enhanced by Daniel Benoit to be displayed at Bayfront Festival Park’s ice rink. The projection display, which skaters can view as they access the warming shelter for free, was organized with the support of the Duluth Public Arts Commission, and Duluth’s City Parks and Recreation Department. Below is an interview with Benoit, as well as photos of the process and first night of the event.
The Wildest Wild Ice
This winter I operated as a lake observer from my hillside fortress of solitude. I dug my binoculars out and pegged them by the window to study the lake’s changes. Obsessed with the wildest wild ice — skating the big lake — I track everything to do with Lake Superior freezing. I track wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and preciptiation daily. In summer this helps me predict local water temps and clarity related to underwater video. In winter this relates to skateable ice on the biggest lake in the world.
About 200 miles northwest of Duluth, the Warroad River connects two ice rinks with a 2.5-mile skating path cleared by local dads.
Also in wild skating news, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is mentioned in the National Geographic online story, “‘It really is like flying.’ Explore wild skating on nature’s ice.” The article “glides across icy geographies, including Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska, and Vermont, where a 4.3-mile skate trail on Lake Morey ranks as the longest in the U.S.,” according to a blurb on the publication’s Travel newsletter.
I have some comments and observations about the ice angler rescue on Tuesday, Feb. 9.
First off, I watch ice closely because I am nutty for skating the biggest lake in the world. No, not Lake Baikal, that piece of shit lake. I mean Lake Superior, the queen of the unsalted seas. Ice cover has been minimal this year so I have been sad, and nearly desperate in this COVID season for recreation and release.
But as my house has a decent lake view, I watched with some interest as ice plugged the outer harbor. It seemed too much to ask for that it should become safe enough to skate on — keeping in mind that ice is never safe. But whatever.
The sign I watch for is the appearance of ice houses. Once they appear, I grab my skates. My logic is this: those guys know what they’re doing. I figure the ice angler community is right on top of the Department of Natural Resources, and is tracking ice thickness so I don’t have to. If they feel safe, I feel safe.
Images from the largest freshwater skating rink in the world, featuring Friday night’s performance by the Spin Collective.
This week will be cold but relatively free of precipitation, so any rinkspace recovered will likely survive a few days. It looks like a blasted moonscape out there right now, but a couple hours of shoveling will uncover the byways of our lost civilization, that culture of pure leisure we established whose spirit survives.
Presented for your amusement, a series of videos chronicling the Feb. 19 and Feb. 23 skating parties on Lake Superior. Above are clips shot by Rich Narum, which the PDD AV Squad has assembled as an introduction to the wonder of the People’s Free Skate Rink.
Tomas’ video scrapbook from the People’s Free Skate Rink on Saturday. This event was the culmination of a rolling 7-day spontaneous party on foot-thick ice over 40-foot-deep water. Featuring DJ Kevin Craig, in a set he shared with Pete Biasi/RAW SPACE. Footage includes the snowy owl that buzzed us in the final frames.
Max Moen and I did this once before in 2014. This will be open as long as weather permits maintaining it. It is on Lake Superior directly off Leif Erickson Park from the stage, about a quarter mile. It is marked with orange cones which hopefully no one will eff with. Ice is around a foot thick, you could drive a train on it. This is the premier skate course in town, a hundred feet long with many twisty paths. Even if you don’t have skates, it is a great excuse for a party. Bring bikes, kites, beach chairs, flags, capes, etc.
Matt Porter and friends laced up and skated on the Duluth Harbor back in mid December for this video.
Image from the Heritage Center website
For New Year’s, I never make resolutions. But I do point myself toward new things that feed me.
Ice skating.
I went to the Heritage Center for City of Duluth Open Skate.
