Skating enthusiasts who dared to be the first to step onto the ice on the Buntven between Helmond and Deurne on Wednesday were disappointed. Although the ice is now seven centimeters thick in some places, one of the skaters fell through the ice after a few laps. The man was not in danger, but suffered serious injuries and had to go to the doctor. “Please be careful,” says skater Hans van der Heijden (54) from Asten about the ice.
He was also standing on the frozen Buntven on Wednesday morning and saw the accident happen. “It went well for a while, but in the end the man collapsed with one knee.” He landed on the ice with his chin and suffered a serious cut.
The Buntven is normally one of the first lakes in Brabant to freeze over during frost. “I’ve been skating for more than thirty years and saw a number of people on the ice, so I think that’s a good sign,” says Hans.
Together with a number of other skaters, he placed the drill in the ice to measure its thickness. “The ice was three inches in some places and it didn’t crack, so it seemed solid enough. But unfortunately.”
“We have to take it now, because we won’t be able to enjoy it for much longer.”
René van de Laar is also disappointed that the ice is not yet hard enough. “Unfortunately, it’s not a party yet. It does look very nice with the sun on it. But if someone has already gone through it, it will be too bad.” He says that he experienced this himself a few years ago. “I’m also getting older, so I don’t want to risk that now.”
Many skaters on the sidelines are hesitating about going onto the ice. A number of boys want to step onto the ice to play ice hockey. Hans warns them that they better not do that. “I immediately left it myself,” he says. “I’ll come back tomorrow. A night of frost over it will probably do the trick.”
“When it starts cracking and singing, it becomes linky.”
He is not afraid that he will get a wet suit himself. “I stay a bit more on the sides, where the ice is a bit thicker,” says Hans. “We have to make do with it now, because we can’t enjoy the ice for very long these days.”
For those who still want to take the gamble, René has a few tips. “Be careful and don’t go too far onto the ice. Make sure it’s level. And if it starts cracking and singing, it’s going to be sticky.
