Two days of skating fun, and then it’s over | Amsterdam
reportIt’s not too bad with the skating craze in Amsterdam. Amsterdam ice skating enthusiasts are mainly looking for refuge outside the city this weekend.
“It can only be done once in the umpteenth year,” says 43-year-old Jurriaan from Amsterdam-South as he cheerfully walks with his skates in a direction towards the Ankeveense lakes. “And this is the moment.”
Although a few skaters were spotted on the pond in the Vondelpark on Friday and a few swung over the Bosbaan on Saturday, the skating craze in the city does not seem to have really broken out on Saturday. Skating enthusiasts seek refuge outside the Ring. There will be plenty of skating on the Abcoudermeer this weekend, just like in Zuiderwoude in Landelijk Noord. Traditionally, many skating enthusiasts from the capital leave for Ankeveen.
That while the yardstick of the ice masters leaves nothing to be desired in terms of clarity. Where 10 centimeters should be, the counter gets stuck at 8. ‘Unfortunately, we still don’t have enough ice thickness to open the ice rink’, according to the website of the Ankeveense ice club.
Get up early
Most skaters who go out on the ice are aware of the risk of a wet suit. Many therefore carry an ice pick around their neck and ropes to eventually hoist themselves back onto the ice. It turned out to be no superfluous luxury. “I saw two people go through the ice today,” says Myrthe from Weesp. “They were up to their necks in water.”
You have to be careful, especially in the ditches that lead to puddles. Already at the first ditch the kluning is blown. “You better go early,” says Chris, standing next to a pram. “I was here at about nine o’clock, then everything was good everywhere. Beautiful black ice cream. I train on the Jaap Edenbaan for the alternative Elfstedentocht and I have already met everyone in my number.”
Why he doesn’t go home with the little one? “I looked at my girlfriend. I went this morning and now she is. She’s been gone for half an hour now.” Laughing: “She’s from Friesland, right? So if they can skate, she goes.”
‘It goes through’
In café De Molen, the hot chocolate is not available for the time being. “We opened an hour earlier this morning and it has changed,” says employee Myra.
People keep coming outside. Erik from the Spaarndammerbuurt goes on ice cream with his girlfriend. “We had a party yesterday so we are a bit late.” They are not afraid to fall through the ice. “We laze in an app group that it was good here.”
By noon, the mercury is peeping above freezing. “Look, look, it goes through,” shouts a man who is just putting on his skates. A little further on, a skater flounders in the water. While the hapless skater scrambles hastily to shore, others simply take to the ice. “You have to skate hard and push off soft, that’s the trick,” says someone who laughs.
Now from never
On the ice rink of the ice club in Baambrugge, a few kilometers away, the ice is almost gone. “We sprayed it on for hours on Friday night, amount by amount,” says volunteer Tina Bengtson. “It is one centimeter thick, you actually skate on black ice. We are going to spray it again tonight and then hopefully we can have a few more hours on Sunday morning and then it will be done.”
Now from never. That is also the tribe in Ankeveen. Four friends of VU skating club Skets get a professional look at the suit of the ice. “I’m going again on Sunday morning,” says Amber. “It’s gone on Monday.”
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