Has anyone played on ice?

Question

The Winter tournament coming up soon is scheduled to play on the lake, and it might actually be cold enough to do it this year!

I've played on some very hard surfaces, and I've played on packed snow with icy patches, but I really have no idea what the conditions will be like or how they will play. Based on my very limited experience I expect that inkasting will be harder (more bouncing/sliding = harder to group), but baton tossing will be easier (more bouncing/sliding = more 'sloppy' hits).

Has anyone actually played on ice? Anybody with actual experience care to share tips or observations about how it affects the game?

Answer 1

Our goal is to have the pitches "groomed" not "plowed". There should be snow to cushion your inkasting, but I don't think we will be able to give you more specifics than that. I've never played on "clean" ice and I think Eric G will do hit best to get us some snow, even if wind on the lake blows all of it off the week before the tournament. The skiers don't want to be on pure ice either and the Loppet has some special equipment that they should be able to use to help us if the lake doesn't have any snow on it.

That said, get out there and play in some weird Winter conditions because we can guarantee that this year will be different than the last two.

I assume we'll go out and try to play on Lake Calhoun where the tournament will happen, maybe this weekend or the next, and try to report back.

Comments

If there will be enough snowpack to dig a corner when drilling yet still be firm enough for the batons to slide around, then I want to change my prediction to "Everyone will be awesome."

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Yeah, but I think others will agree that pitch conditions at the winter tournament change somewhat drastically throughout the day. We've all seen baskets get torn up and matted down throughout the day at Nationals, but snow and ice melt and crush.

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Absolutely true - last year's tournament was the toughest I've ever played in from an inkasting point of view. We went from playing on frozen ground as hard as concrete, to playing in puddles, to playing in mud, to playing on snow. Seemed like as soon as I caught a rhythm on the pitch the match was over and it was on to something completely different! It will be interesting to see if that same flux of conditions carries over to the lake this year...

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I have played on glare ice, because that is what my front yard pitch turned into after the snow was packed and rained on this week.  Physical safety for our bodies is probably a bigger concern, I'm going to pick up some ice grippers next time I get to Costco, need them around the house anyway.  Play is interesting on ice as previously described, but I know all you professional kubbers will quickly adapt to whatever we meet up with that day..  ringer

Answer 2

I think Jake pretty much covered it. I'll be on Lake Calhoun playing kubb this weekend and will give a full report - but here's what I can say for now:

-We (Minnesota Kubb and the Loppet) will do everything we can to avoid playing on glare ice. The forecast isn't calling for big snow, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

-Our biggest asset (as Jake mentioned) is that skiers don't want ice either. I'll be in contact with the Loppet and update as I can about moving snow around.

Expect an update this weekend.

-Eric