Interesting article about how some are still using old methods to harvest natural made ice and store it for summer use.
On thin ice: How warming winters are changing the Squam Lake ice harvest
How warming winters are changing the Squam Lake ice harvest
| New Hampshire Public Radio
As the sun rose, they balanced cups of coffee in a bumpy truck, driving down a potholed road to a part of Squam Lake known as Eastman Cove. They strapped tiny spikes to their shoes, walked out hundreds of feet onto the frozen lake, and measured the ice.
Most days, they drilled small holes at the corners of a square marked off by cones and slipped a skinny handmade ruler into the ice until it hit water. After snowstorms, they spent hours clearing snow off their section of the lake, to speed up the freezing process.
Editor's note: We strongly recommend listening to this story by hitting the red listen button.
They watched the water freeze and thaw, as one of the warmest winters in New Hampshire**™s recorded history brought rain and sunshine. And they waited for the ice to grow to 12 inches **" thick enough to support the weight of a pick-up truck.
Cederberg and Hambrook were preparing the lake for a longstanding tradition: a harvest, where roughly 200 tons of ice are cut out of Squam to be used at Rockywold Deephaven Camps in Holderness.
Families rent old-school cabins there during the summer. The facilities don't have refrigerators - just special chests that are filled with massive blocks of ice each morning, to keep wine and Capri-Sun cool.
Once a booming trade, Rockywold Deephaven Camps is one of the few places left in New England that harvests ice each winter. The camp was founded in 1897, and has since trained generations of workers on how to cut, haul, and store lake ice.
You can read more in the link
Bekeart
On thin ice: How warming winters are changing the Squam Lake ice harvest
How warming winters are changing the Squam Lake ice harvest
| New Hampshire Public Radio
As the sun rose, they balanced cups of coffee in a bumpy truck, driving down a potholed road to a part of Squam Lake known as Eastman Cove. They strapped tiny spikes to their shoes, walked out hundreds of feet onto the frozen lake, and measured the ice.
Most days, they drilled small holes at the corners of a square marked off by cones and slipped a skinny handmade ruler into the ice until it hit water. After snowstorms, they spent hours clearing snow off their section of the lake, to speed up the freezing process.
Editor's note: We strongly recommend listening to this story by hitting the red listen button.
They watched the water freeze and thaw, as one of the warmest winters in New Hampshire**™s recorded history brought rain and sunshine. And they waited for the ice to grow to 12 inches **" thick enough to support the weight of a pick-up truck.
Cederberg and Hambrook were preparing the lake for a longstanding tradition: a harvest, where roughly 200 tons of ice are cut out of Squam to be used at Rockywold Deephaven Camps in Holderness.
Families rent old-school cabins there during the summer. The facilities don't have refrigerators - just special chests that are filled with massive blocks of ice each morning, to keep wine and Capri-Sun cool.
Once a booming trade, Rockywold Deephaven Camps is one of the few places left in New England that harvests ice each winter. The camp was founded in 1897, and has since trained generations of workers on how to cut, haul, and store lake ice.
You can read more in the link
Bekeart
