Ice quality Was: Ice Racing in general

[Rave Racer]

        I'm no expert but I do have a family vacation house on a lake in
eastern Canada.  We have about 2 fatalities a year so I know the dangers,
and you should always be safe on the ice.  Usually they're older kids who
have grown up near the ice, decide it's good enough for they're skidoo,
should know better but risk it anyway.
        That having been said, ice is a very strong surface.  3 inches can
support a truck.  1 inch is able to support a person.  I wouldn't trust that
though, having seen what can happen.  To be safe I would go with almost a
foot thick before trying anything high speed in something as heavy as a car.
Ice can rot and this is where the danger lies.  New ice is usually
uniformally thin.  If you don't make it onto the ice, it should be obvious
you won't make it out near the center.  Rot is dangerous because it is
partially thawed ice.  It doesn't thaw evenly and leaves weak spots where a
full twelve inches of rotted ice wouldn't support a bunny rabbit.  The
dangerous part is that rot can appear in the middle of perfectly good ice.
        To be sure of good ice, the weather is important.  A good cold snap
for at least 3 days will provide almost assuredly good ice.  I say three
days because ice is a good insulator, and takes a longer time then expected
to give up it's energy (heat).
        NOW FOR THE FUN PART!!!  Wanna know what happens when you fall in?
Personal experience:  IF you happen to fall through, IF you can open your
eyes under water, IF you got a good deap breath, IF you can swim dressed up
for a blizzard, then the secret is to find the hole you fell through.  When
you fall through, the hole has a tendency to fill in with all the broken
ice, and now it looks the same as the rest of it.  Trapped!  I don't mean to
be a bummer, but it really sucks so be carefull.
        If your ice is good, you've got nothing to worry about.

----- Original Message -----
From: Livolsi, Stephane <Stephane.Livolsi at investorsgroup.com>
To: Audi Quattro List <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 4:43 PM
Subject: RE: Ice Racing in general


> Does anyone know what a safe thickness limit for the ice would be for an
ice
> race?  Our lake here is very nicely frozen and the winds and mild temps
have
> gotten the snow off.  It is a great skating surface right now and I was
> thinking of trying to organize something.
>