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CHILL THRILL / IN CELEBRATION OF ICE

The ice is singing. Small twangs and moans, bellowing like sad folk verses of Portuguese Fado, pulse from air bubbles beneath a surface resembling the color of dirty bathwater. Lacing up skates we channel onto a frozen portion of the Yuba River somewhere near Donner Summit.

The frigid air of early morning, arctic in its chill, has an almost metallic bite. At times a solitary ray of sunlight filters through the hardwoods arching from the banks and touches the ice forming puddles. Roaming downriver, skates skipping clickety-clack over segments of bumpy ice, it's hard to remember life outside this wintry perspective. Instead, I focus on the riverbend ahead - dodging rocky riprap above shallow rime ice and banking turns until the private playground closes out in a wall of snow and sunshine. Rising temperatures are already making skates soggy and forcing us to turn back under the protective awning of trees.

Skating with friends on such a serene setting throws me back in time to my first experiences on ice. As a kid growing up on Cape Cod in New England skating was burned into the memory each day after school. I was king of the belly splat. Belly splatting was where, in the midst of hauling butt during free flight over the ice of our neighboring outdoor rink, you'd leap face forward and scream on your belly until you'd hit the boards or topple some unsuspecting female. I became so well-versed in its art, much to everyone's chagrin, I'd sometimes duct-tape my Little League catcher's chest protector for padding and burnish my skates for extra speed.

I no longer belly splat, even though from time to time I still get the urge, especially if feeling the need to impress my girlfriend. But everything changes, and these days I live in the mountains near the coast where temperatures change rapidly and ice play is looked upon a bit more reverently.

Playing on frozen lakes and rivers has been a natural form of recreation in the Tahoe area since the turn of the century when special trains from San Francisco brought visitors in winter to the mountains for skiing, skating, and sledding parties. By 1910, Truckee's winter community carnival attracted almost 2,000 enthusiasts for winter sports. Ice on Donner Lake was reported at times twelve to fifteen inches thick and "Strong enough to hold up an artillery battery."

Because of major annual snowfall, snowless sheets of ice in the Tahoe area are rare and typically discovered in November and December and before the big Sierra snow months. Depending on the vagaries of terrain, elevation, temperature, humidity, and water volume, water may freeze into anything from pitted patches to milk- of- magnesia- looking domes, to crackly chasms that grab skates and drop you onto your backside before you can even wipe the smile from your face.

Smooth and hard is the Sagamatha of surfaces and the best ice is found in damp, moderately cold climates, where the air temperature rarely drops below freezing, and the ice is solid and relatively soft. As a result, the Tahoe area during its wintry mood swings becomes littered with icy combed surfaces that are spread from north to south and within easy access from roadways. Whether atop Donner Summit at Serene Lakes or near Kirkwood at Caples and Silver Lakes, solid ice can be enjoyed in a variety of recreation activities, offering chilling diversions and amusing sensations in combating the infirmities of winter.

"The beauty of ice is that all you need is a frozen pool of water, no matter what the size, and you can have fun" says Squaw Valley resident and former U.S. Nation Ski Team downhiller Todd Kelly. Captain of the Squaw Valley Chiefs, the North Shore's organized hockey league team, Kelly admits his favorite form of skating is not bounded by a manufactured rink, but instead discovered on local ponds and lakes.

"There's nothing better than pond hockey," he says. "It might be a more casual form of the game but it actually makes you a better player. You have to have finesse in your passing. There are no boards to stop the puck. Out at Boca, if you miss a pass the puck can go for a mile. Sometimes you'll be on a small pond that has a large rock in the middle which you'll use as a defenseman. We'll even cultivate and manicure some ponds like Bear Creek in Alpine Meadows or places in Squaw Valley by putting a hose on the ice and then scraping down the surface with large shovels".

Situated on the Little Truckee River only a few miles northeast of Truckee, Boca Dam and Reservoir was constructed in 1937 to provide a supplemental supply of irrigation water to farmland around the Truckee Meadows. With over eight miles of surface, little did the reservoir's engineers know they'd form one of Tahoe's most popular winter playgrounds.

"Sometimes you'll see five different games going on around different sections of the lake interspersed with people ice fishing, skating with their children or just partying around bonfires. There can be 300 people out on the ice on weekends," explains Tahoe City resident Doug Read, an avid backcountry skier and ice skater.

Ice fisherman John Minnis agrees.

"On a nice sunny day Boca and neighboring Prossor Reservoir take on a social aspect. There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in a lounge chair, rod holder in hand, and watching the birds and children playing," says Minnis, a twenty-five year resident of Truckee.

A year-round fishing enthusiast, Minnis manages Mountain Hardware and Sports in Truckee, a local hub for fishing which sells tackle, equipment, and posts daily fishing reports.

"Some of the best winter sport fishing can be found under the ice at Boca and nearby Prossor and Stampede Reservoirs," he says. "It's become so popular it's not unusual to see people arrive with snowblowers and snowmobiles and set up camp."

"You can drill a hole in a frozen lake and catch a good-size brown or Rainbow. Stampede has Mackinaw trout."

An ice auger drill with corkscrew blade is essential equipment.Tip-ups are ice fishing-ambush devices, small spring loaded wooden contraptions attached to a line, and there are three foot long limber rods designed for ice fishing, but Minnis confides that regular spinning rods and powerbait and worms work fine.

"Fish are more lethargic in winter and hang close to the bottom. Real early in the morning or when it warms up and the sun takes off the top of the ice are best times," Minnis says. "These trout seem to taste better when taken from icy water."

Of course the most important piece of equipment is a fast car. The Tahoe area fluctuates in a pendulum of freezing to warm temperatures, sometimes daily. High pressure systems tend to be colder than wet patterns. Serious cold makes ice form where it normally doesn't. In December of 1990 temperatures in Truckee dropped to 48 degrees below zero. Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay froze. Once temperatures rise and the sun comes out ice can transform and become watery if not downright sketchy. Todd Kelly remembers skating on Martis Creek near the airport. It began snowing and the ice disappeared within twenty minutes.

"It's fun to follow a crack on the ice as it cracks and spin off it right or left," explains Read. "It's easy to get a wet foot and have the laces freeze where you can't get your skates off. One time I was on Cascade Lake near Emerald Bay. We were told it was good ice, but realized as soon as we were out on it that we were in trouble. We laid down on the ice to spread out our weight and slithered towards shore. The whole time it felt like wave floating. The ice was actually rolling with us."

Read, a founding member of Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue, recommends always to have a twenty to thirty foot rope handy.

"Another trick is to hang 40 penny nails on a string on your shirt," Read instructs. "If you fall in you can use them as an ice ax to grab hold onto a surface."

"You need to know and trust the ice. Four inches thick of ice can hold one ton of weight," says U.S. Forest Service Ranger Bob Moore. "Ice play on surrounding lakes and reservoirs is a gas, but remember it's unregulated and you're on your own. Watch for rough ice and watch for water flows and check the ice on the shoreline."

Whether skating, playing hockey, or even ice fishing, much of frozen water's appeal lies in its different shapes and forms that has a certain aesthetic elegance to it.. Rime ice is a dull white ice caused by freezing water deposits on objects exposed to the wind. Black ice typically forms over deep water surfaces and is extremely tough. In fact blue, green, and black colors can each indicate hardness. Clarity equals bitterness and other weaknesses. Brittle ice, usually newly formed, can fracture into large sheets of ice the size of dinner plates.

"Playing hockey over black ice can be pretty trippy," admits Read. It's hard to sometimes see the puck."

Sunlight lacquered the glassy river surface as we headed upriver towards the car. My feet felt like wood, but I no longer noticed the cold. The fragrance of a dense stand of pine was sharp and dry. My head felt clear. Energized, I plotted my course on the ice ahead and gained speed. Pride was at stake. I was breathing hard. An instant later I was railing on my belly faster than I thought I could ever go. Crusty drifts along the bank were welling up in terminal velocity. My girlfriend later said the gut-hollowing scream she heard wasn't out of fright, but of a man reclaiming his childhood.