natural ice

A 74-year-old Dutch man died after an unfortunate fall while ice skating in Belgium last week. The man landed on his head and fell through the ice, ANP reports.

The incident happened in nature reserve Asserbroekse Meersen near Bruges. Bystanders managed to get him out of the icy water quickly, but he sustained serious injuries in the fall.

The man was rushed to hospital in critical condition. He later passed away there, the police confirmed on Monday. 

Christoph van Ingen from Oostzaan took a bizarre photo while skating on a ditch in his neighborhood on Thursday - a kingfisher bird perfectly frozen in the ice.

"We saw something blue in the ice and stopped to see what it was", Van Ingen said to RTL Nieuws. He took a photo with his phone and posted it on Instagram.

Two skaters fell through too thin ice on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam on Thursday. One managed to get out of the water himself, the other had to be rescued. Bob Maas, the unofficial ice master of the Dutch capital, thinks that the ice on the canals will be thick enough to skate on safely over the weekend, Het Parool reports.

The icy weather currently in the Netherlands means that skating enthusiasts can enjoy the natural ice at numerous ice skating clubs throughout the country. One skating enthusiast used a drone to film a beautiful video of skaters enjoying the natural ice rink of skating club De Vennen in Noord-Brabant. 

"We have five centimeters of ice", Jan van de Wiel of De Vennen said to Omroep Brabant. "It is beautiful for natural ice. The free nature. Enjoy the sun rising. The outside air and the wind. You have to overcome all these factors on natural ice."

This year's first ice skating marathon on natural ice will be held in Haaksbergen on Wednesday evening. Willem Hut of the skaters union KNSB approved the ice rink in the Overijssel town on Tuesday, Het Parool reports.

The ice rink of skating club IJSCH from Haaksbergen has the required thickness of at least 3 centimeters in all places. The Haaksbergen club competes almost every winter in the battle to host the fist marathon on natural ice. This is the sixth time Haaksbergen wins since 2000. 

Tuesday will be another icy cold day in the Netherlands, according to Weeronline. Maximum temperatures will hover around freezing, but a strong wind will make it feel much colder, the weather service warns.

There is not yet enough ice in the Amsterdam canals to close them to boating traffic, Waternet announced on Monday. The canal manager will check again on Tuesday whether measures can be taken to make sure that skaters can skate on the canals. 

Waternet also checked every day over the weekend whether there was enough ice on the canals. On Sunday a spokesperson told the Telegraaf that "there is already ice here and there". 

Despite warnings about dangerous skating conditions and thin ice, many Dutch took to the frozen lakes and canals across the Netherlands over the past day. Weerplaza warns that natural ice can be very treacherous, and the situation in the center of the Netherlands and Utrecht region is downright dangerous. If you have to skate on natural ice in these regions, be very careful.

It also seems that the skating weather is coming to a slow end for the time being. The coming nights will drop below freezing, but after Friday the weather will turn milder, according to RTL. 

Lisa van der Geest and Simon Schouten won the season's first skating marathon on natural ice in Noordlaren, Groningen on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

The women started at 10:00 a.m. with 80 laps on the 333 meter track. After some skirmishes in the first half hour, a strong leading group of eight skaters separated themselves. 23-year-old Van der Geest won. After 80 laps she was the leader of a group of eight who were a lap ahead of the rest of the racers. Emma Engbers got second place, and Irene Schouten - Simon Schouten's sister - took third place.