Milder air and higher temperatures are coming. And so today was perhaps the last day to skate. Many people wanted to experience that moment, such as on the natural ice rink in the Asserbos.
“I’m always the first on the ice,” says Aizo Betten from Assen. “Then I measure the thickness of the ice with my drill. It should be 2.5 centimeters for black ice.” But there is clearly no black ice on the old pond. “No, this is snow ice. It has to be thicker if you want to be safe on it.”
The natural ice rink in the Asserbos has a long history. In 1947, 1955 and 1961 the Dutch Short and Long Course Championships were even held there. But an annual ice surface has not been a given for some time now. That is why winter enthusiasts are now taking their chance.
“That could have been done during my lunch break,” laughs Marcel Homan. “Moreover, it may be the last time that it is possible,” adds Assenaar Maarten Ton.
For both Betten and Homan it is not just ‘gliding around in circles’. “No, I have planned to skate 30 kilometers. I am now at 25. Just a little while and then I can take a shower,” Betten laughs.
It is striking that there are no children on the ice floor. “It’s usually the older men in Lycra that you see here,” Ton laughs. “Not that I dress like that,” he hastens to say.
And although many people are now done with the cold, snow and sleet, the temperature cannot remain below zero long enough for these men. “It doesn’t get more Dutch than this.”
