Despite this winter's particularly bold beginning, students will have to wait a bit longer for skating at Occum Pond -- since snow acts as an insulating layer atop ice, the plethora of snow to hit Hanover thus far has actually hindered the thickening of the ice.
The pond, which is used as an outdoor skating rink by Dartmouth students and Hanover locals alike, remains covered in feet of snow, below which exist only two to three inches of ice.
"To be safe we're going to need to see at least six inches of good, even, black pond ice before we can let people on it," Grounds Supervisor Bob Thebodo said. "Ideally we'd like to get it up to eight."
Occom Pond will nonetheless be ready to skate on by Winter Carnival, Thebodo said.
The annual Polar Bear Swim during Winter Carnival is held at the pond, and the event has been cancelled in the past because of poor ice conditions, most recently in 2001.
When the ice is thick enough, Thebodo will work with Facilities Operations and Management to clear any buildup of snow on the ice. However, because the ice layer is presently so thin, they are unable to clear the snow with a tractor or snowplow as they usually do.
Instead, Thebodo plans to wait for a few days without snow so that he can flood the pond surface. This will be done with the assistance of Mike Silverman, manager of the pond-side Cross Country Ski Center, which rents skates.
"By flooding it we can start to build up the ice layer without actually having to get out on the ice," said Silverman, who has been in contact with Facilities Operations and Management and the Risk Management office to expedite the opening of the pond. "Right now it's cold enough and we could start building ice immediately. But it's still weeks away from students being able to get out on the ice."
Thebodo agreed with Silverman, saying that he would like to begin building the ice as soon as possible but that the process would have to wait until "we got a couple days without snow, and we get everything cleaned up around campus."
Though the ice will need to double in thickness before it can be skated on, Thebodo called opening the pond by the Feb. 7 start to Winter Carnival a "very major goal."
Silverman too stressed the importance of opening the pond before Winter Carnival. However, he worried about rushing to open the pond too quickly.
"When you clear off the pond, people want to get out on it, whether it's safe or not," Silverman said. "Even with the trespassing signs and the unsafe warnings, once they clear it people want to get on it at night."
Silverman said that he is going to need help from Facilities employees to get the flooding started. Just as important, he added, is that people stay off the ice while it is thin, both for their own safety and the good of the ice.
