The much-desired skating marathon is not happening in Drenthe this weekend. The temperatures of recent days have fluctuated around -2 degrees, too high for a good ice layer, according to ice clubs. “We don’t expect anything more from it.”
Despite a week of preparation, Margriet Sieben believes there is little chance that the Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord ice rink can still open this weekend. Last night she was at the ice rink with her colleagues until midnight. “While building up the ice layer, we saw that it did not pack enough. But it caused a lot of discussion: will it work or not? Then we looked at the weather reports again, then went outside again.”
Ultimately, the association could only draw one conclusion: “This is not going to work. The ice is so thin that we cannot even measure in centimeters. It is so minimal, just a membrane.”
Yet Sieben is not giving up hope completely, although higher temperatures have already been announced for next week. “This afternoon we will see what the forecasts will do. If they are favorable, we will see if we can add some water to the track tonight. Perhaps 1.5 centimeters will still be possible for recreationalists tomorrow.”
According to Sieben, the fact that skating fever has broken out despite the disappointing temperatures is due to the predictions. “A -7 was predicted, but during the week that was reversed. I already said: ‘The skating fever is rising, but the mercury is not dropping.'”
In Noordlaren they did not take the possibility of a marathon into account anyway, says Jan-Geert Veldman, chairman of the ice skating association in Noordlaren. “For a marathon, the temperatures really need to be lower and it must remain -2 during the day. It is alive, just like it does in other years. But we don’t expect anything more from it.”
The ice skating association misted the rink yesterday morning, but little is left of the ice layer that formed afterwards, says Veldman. “The asphalt is already in sight. For a good ice layer we really have to wait until the wind comes from the east, which is now coming from the west.”
Although they have been busy with the preparations for a week, preparing the ice rink does not feel like wasted effort for the ice skating association in Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord. “Now we have at least been able to test our new track and new installation. We hope to be able to skate during the next winter period with more frost.”
In various places elsewhere in the country it was possible to build up a good ice layer. Although too thin for a marathon, enthusiasts can make the first laps of the season today in Winterswijk, De Lier and Doorn.