Hi all,

I have family coming out later this week. I'm thinking about taking them ice skating on a frozen lake (I heard Greifensee...), in the Zurich area. Anybody any tips or suggestions?

Cheers

take a rope, just in case After all, the lake'll likely be closed again with positive temperatures due

Given that the snow is back on the hills now, this thread could again be relevant soon. Although it is not near Zurich (as the orginal poster requested), the Lac de Joux is a great place to go if you want a frozen lake. It's in the Jura mountains between Geneva and Yverdon, and is an easy train ride from Lausanne.

The lake should be solid by Christmas or New Year (it's above 1000 m elevation, so it's much colder there , plus the lake is only about 30 m deep at its deepest so it freezes pretty quickly). The lake is about 10 km long and the best place to get onto it is the town of Le Pont at the northeastern end, where they have stalls set up on the ice selling hot chocolate, hot wine, etc. If you don't feel like skating, then it's almost as fun just to go for a walk on the ice. You'll find people doing many other activities there including having a picnic in the middle of the lake and kids riding their bikes.

If you don't get any hot chocolate on the lake, then make sure that you stop in at the little tea-room in Le Pont to get some of the best hot chocolate sold anywhere in the world , I can't remember the name of the place but it is in the middle of all of the shops that face the lake (they also sell good cake in there).

PS. The Vallee de Joux area also has lots of nice cross-country ski trails.
PPS. Enjoy the winter!!!

The Pfaffikersee freezes thick enough for skating about 1 year in 10. It's a fairly big event when this happens - the last time was 2002 (and apparently 2006 as Nicky states below - I wasn't in the country for February this year). The Zurisee freezes oevr about one year in 50 - the last time was 1964. This would be by February. As you might expect here, it is only after careful checking by those responsible that the public are allowed onto frozen lakes.

An alternative is seasonal outdoor ice rinks like the Dolder in Zurich and Brand in Thalwil.

Pfaffikersee and Grieffensee both frose over in Feb this year and there was skating on both for a week or so, I was told the last time Pfaffikersee froze over was 4 years ago and the last time grieffensee froze was 14 years ago, so not sure if you'll find a frozen lake next week?

There is a skating rink at landesmuseum at the moment which is free

http://www.liveonice.ch/zuerich_index.html

and of course Dolder as someone previously mentioned

Nicky

psst Nicky - check the dates of the original posting

sorry i mean this week then not next week

edit - oops sorry just saw it was posted in Feb, sorry late night last night, brain not in gear

Time to resurrect this thread. Any suggestion for a frozen lake not too far from ZRH (Sihlsee a little bit too far) for a couple of hours on the ice this week end ?
thks and regards

The Glattparksee (an artificial lake that was created when they needed a load of earth to create a noise shield from the motorway, it's 550 metres long and 40 metres wide) is frozen and this weekend the Quartierverein will be setting up a punch and grilled sausage stand for those who need to warm up. It's not very big but definitely close to town - get off at 'Fernsehstudio' and there you are!

While a bit far, there was a good interview this a.m. on the radio with all Lac de Joux has to offer. It is now completely frozen over and they were really promoting the ice skating. It is also a winter sports paradise with x-country skiing, sledding and the like. If you don't mind travelling a bit further, it is worth it, it is one of my most favorite places in CH, extremely beautiful and different from other regions, still unspoiled.

apparently the Katzensee will be open as of this weekend too. Please check the Stadtpolizei Website for any updates!

Just found the correct link http://www.kapo.zh.ch/internet/siche...sbulletin.html. The Eisbulletin is updated every few days which is why the Katzensee isnt on there yet (the mediabulletin informed about this opening this morning)

the sihlsee is open now for outdoor skating and is great! its not that far but its lovely there

You can also go to Horgen. The Horgenbergweiher is also open. To go there you take a train to Horgen and then a Postauto to Horgenberg (that's the one that goes up to Hirzel). Get out at the stop Vorderklausen. Itinerary can be found here www.zvv.ch. You can also look it up on maps.google.ch. It is not big but it's nice in the middle of a forrest so you could do some walking as well.

They are expecting to open Greifensee, Pfaffikersee and the Harbour in Rapperswil for ice skating by tomorrow. No need to go to Sihlsee it freezes every year. It's the first time in 20 or 30 years that Part of Zurisee has frozen enough to skate on!

is it possible to rent skate boots there during saturday and sunday? Not everybody here has these (as we are in pretty mild-climated Switzerland )

Apparently, they've managed to organise skate rental at the Glattpark-See for the weekend.

Freezing temperatures bring pleasure and misery

Skaters are getting the chance to profit from the recent cold temperatures as more and more lakes and ponds have frozen over and been declared safe by the authorities.
The layer of ice in the harbour at Rapperswil on Lake Zurich is now 15 centimetres thick, and people will be able to walk out over it on Saturday for the first time in 24 years, although at their own risk.

But not everyone is so happy. About 20 boats have sunk on Lake Geneva under the weight of the ice that formed on them, the local police said. Another 50 were rescued from the same fate.

Swissinfo EN

Kapo ZH Ice Bulletin ( DE )