Lake Champlain: Skating on Thin Ice

On thin ice (video credit vincemps via YouTube)

A friend in Essex just linked me to this video, a quick way to share current Champlain Valley winter pleasures while I'm playing in Costa Rica. This is a friend with whom I've skated on Lake Champlain, so he knows that I love "black ice" conditions. But, the growing trend of thin ice skating concerns me. The nordic skater who posted this video writes:

On thin ice: mostly ca.1.5 inches (some 1-inch areas with an occasional 2-inch patch). Apres nous le deluge. (i.e., the snow is coming).

There's no way I'd be skating on 1-2" ice on Lake Champlain in the dead of winter! Adrenaline is my friend. Skating and snowless-ice are too. But the risk factor and the high stakes definitely outweigh the thrill. Give me 9-12" and I'm happy...