When temperatures plummet... lace up their skates and glide across Lake Ontario

National Post ^ | January 3, 2014 | Peter Kuitenbrouwer

[Squawk 8888]

The ice on Lake Ontario sparkles in the afternoon winter sun.

“Come over here,” beckons Tyler Hnatuk. “I’ve found a perfect spot.”

Alec Farquhar, his wife Kathleen McDonnell and I pivot on our skates and speed north. Ahead of us, across the frozen lake, bristle Toronto’s towers. Our skates bounce on bumpy patches and slow down over snow drifts. We come to open, smooth ice, longer than many rinks. We glide to and fro, swirling and smiling and enjoying the great outdoors.

Some in Toronto complain when the thermometer dips to -26C, as it did outside my kitchen window Friday morning. Not me. “Cold Weather Alert?” Count me in. Cold weather means natural ice.

On New Year’s Day my son and I skated on Grenadier Pond in High Park; alas, the freeze-thaw cycle left it too bumpy. Good news came from Mr. Farquhar, one of Toronto’s devotees of skating on natural ice. By day, he is director for the Office of the Worker Advisor at the Ontario Ministry of Labour. On his down time, Mr. Farquhar and Ms. McDonnell, Toronto Island residents since 1981, love to skate on Toronto Harbour. A few years ago he added me to 90 people on the email list for his “ice report.”

“We found a large patch of nice smooth ice over towards the RCHC [Royal Canadian Yacht Club] quite close to the shore along Snake Island,” Mr. Farquhar wrote Monday. “It was very solid — probably six inches at minimum. A group of us had a nice skate there this afternoon on a brilliant sunny day. The iceboat was out sailing as well.”

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

So, the Laurentian shield is rebounding and will eventually tip or spill the great lakes onto Michigan Wisconsin, and Ohio, but not so fast that people in those states can’t still retire and move to Texas and Florida. :)

Geology! Slow but full of fun surprises!