Southcentral Alaska’s magic wild ice window

November 10, 2023

An October to November wild ice window for the record books

From late October to early November, Southcentral Alaska had a near-magical window for wild ice skating. Thousands of Alaskans (and a few skate-toting visitors!) flocked to the Talkeetna, Chugach, and Kenai Mountains for “once in two generations”-good ice skating. Some lakes that are notoriously difficult — if not impossible — to catch most years were glazed with spectacular, clear ice for weeks!

Laura Kottlowski skating on Eagle Lake

Sarah Bobbe and Atlas the dog skating Rabbit Lake

So what happened?

The excellent skating conditions were caused by the lucky intersection of several factors, including:

• Clear, cold nights in October promoted ice formation. The “clear” aspect is especially important here: ice forms much more rapidly under clear skis than under cloudy skies — even when temperatures are the same — due to radiational cooling.
• Historically low precipitation kept lake surfaces clear. According to an article in the Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage typically sees about five inches of snow by the end of October. This year, only about half an inch fell during that period.
• Many mountain lakes in the greater Anchorage area sit at a similar (and in this case, ideal!) elevation. Rabbit Lake, Eagle Lake, Walrus Lake, and Long Lake, for example, are all located between 2600-3300 feet. During this weather window, this proved to be the perfect elevation for ice formation without snow cover. Some lakes at lower elevations stayed open due to warmer temperatures, while higher-elevation lakes were covered by snow.

To learn more about ice formation, check out this page from lakeice.squarespace.com. (Note: the Lake Ice website, which was compiled by the late Bob Dill, is an amazing and borderline addictive resource on ice science and wild ice skating topics.)

Swirling wild ice patterns on Eagle Lake

Wild ice skating in the limelight

Because this “A Grade” wild ice stuck around for so long, large numbers of people were able to get out and enjoy it. For experienced skaters, this was an opportunity to string together ambitious treks to lakes that are rarely skateable. For many others, this was their first experience with wild ice. Even colder, windier days saw strong turnout to more accessible locations like Rabbit Lake and the Williwaw Lakes.

Skaters at Rabbit Lake

For a little while, it was almost as if wild ice had its own hard-working PR team. Wild ice skating became a hot topic in the news and on the radio. A couple examples:

• Anchorage Daily News: “Alaskans drawn to alpine lakes for ‘once-in-a-decade’ ice skating conditions”
• “Chasing Wild Ice with Paxson Woelber” – Radio interview with Ermine Skate owner Paxson Woelber

Skating on Rabbit Lake and Green Lake, in Chugach State Park

Skating on Ravine Lake, in the hills above Chickaloon

In fact, the ice window was so good that it began to attract national and international attention. Several of Luc Mehl’s skating videos went viral, and made their way into media as diverse as the New York Post, the BBC, and Metro. Several of his videos topped a million views on Instagram alone, with one ultimately hitting over 78M.

And then just like that…

After weeks of incredible skating, Southcentral Alaska was pummeled by a storm that dropped a thick layer of snow, befouling roads and closing schools and businesses for days. On the evening of November 9, the Municipality of Anchorage declared a “snow emergency.”

While the prime mountain skating may be gone for now, there are still many lakes throughout Southcentral Alaska that have not frozen over yet. There’s a long winter ahead of us, and it will likely include many freezing events, resets, thaws, overflow, and other skating-friendly conditions. Regardless, this early season was a spectacular example of why we wild ice skate. The ice may be gone for now, but the epic photos, surreal memories, and stories remain and encourage us to find our next amazing wild ice adventures…”

- Paxson Woelber has been a dedicated Nordic skater and advocate for wild ice skating since 2016. In 2021, he founded Ermine Skate, North America's first Nordic skate company. Today, Ermine offers a range of premium Nordic skates and Nordic skating products designed for wild ice.