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Winterswijk Opens Natural 400-Meter Ice Rink Early on Saturday

A white-coated surface with overnight spraying enabled the thin ice despite temperatures around freezing.

Overview

  • The community-run rink opened at 08:15 with an ice layer measured at about 5 millimeters.
  • Ice master Hendrik van Prooije reported temperatures just above 0°C, noting light frost on Friday helped the surface cool.
  • Volunteers worked through the night in two-person, three-hour shifts to spray the track, using a long-arm crane seen in footage.
  • By about 09:00 an estimated 50 to 60 skaters, many of them families, were on the ice.
  • Club leaders cautioned the ice may only hold through the morning depending on sun and wind, and said they were unsure whether theirs was the first rink open nationwide.