Lough Gur Frozen

ABEasy

Was in Lough Gur yesterday, completly frozen, looked great and was able to walk on it. Some pics below

irishvamp90

I was out there today you should have seen the amount of idiots walking on it and some with kids.My dad lived in canada and even tho its frozen ud want more colder weather to make safe because its deffo milder in limerick today

wylo

im sorry Ill probably get slated for this but Im sick of people coming on with their views about people walking on frozen lakes that are inches thick.
Some of these lakes are extremely thick, you could smash a giant rock off them and nothing would happen. Im 14 stone and was walking on the cratlow lake. It was brilliant , probably a once in a lifetime experience.
Im naturally over cautious but this was exteremly safe, Id imagine lough gur was even thicker.

irishvamp90

wylo wrote: »

im sorry Ill probably get slated for this but Im sick of people coming on with their views about people walking on frozen lakes that are inches thick.
Some of these lakes are extremely thick, you could smash a giant rock off them and nothing would happen. Im 14 stone and was walking on the cratlow lake. It was brilliant , probably a once in a lifetime experience.
Im naturally over cautious but this was exteremly safe, Id imagine lough gur was even thicker.

Well thats my opinion if you dont like it im sorry,i dont push my views down anyone throats,but its gone milder in limerick the last 2 days so there is a danger.

Mc Love

wylo wrote: »

im sorry Ill probably get slated for this but Im sick of people coming on with their views about people walking on frozen lakes that are inches thick.
Some of these lakes are extremely thick, you could smash a giant rock off them and nothing would happen. Im 14 stone and was walking on the cratlow lake. It was brilliant , probably a once in a lifetime experience.
Im naturally over cautious but this was exteremly safe, Id imagine lough gur was even thicker.

You have been slated. Its an extremely immature thing to do.

I would only do the same if Ireland was in an artic region but definitely not here.

And if you brought kids on the lake then you are willing to put not only your life at stake but your childrens too.

Run_to_da_hills

The Daily Mail is against walking on thin ice.

RonMexico

Yeah the three blokes who died in England thought the same :rolleyes: Unbelievable. And saying the ice is thick is utterly stupid - the men in England were on "thick ice" too and it still broke. If the ice gave way in the area where any of those people are standing in the picture above they are dead. No chance whatsoever. Yet idiots persist on taking chances and putting further lives at stake when emergency services have to retrieve them.

ABEasy

When I was at the lake there were loads on the ice, me included it was at least 5-6 inches thick. I don't think it was dangerous on the lake as long as u stayed close to shore where the ice was thick.

Builderfromhell

Nice photo Abeasy.
Any more?

wingnut

wylo wrote: »

Im 14 stone and was walking on the cratlow lake. It was brilliant , probably a once in a lifetime experience.
Im naturally over cautious but this was exteremly safe, Id imagine lough gur was even thicker.

Cratloe lake is very shallow, if you fall though you can stand. Lough Gur is deep in parts. Each to their own but you never know what is happening under the ice (watch ice truckers). I walked on the ice close to the bank in Lough Gur where I knew it was shallow enough to walk.

I wouldn't walk as far as many of the other people and certainly if I had kids would NEVER let them walk out on the lake (Unless on my shoulders or the very edge of the bank).

People get killed on lakes every year thinking they are safe. Same with the water at the beach/rivers - don't respect the dangers and it can kill you in a flash.

wylo

I appreciate the responses and I know it may seem really irresponsible and stupid. But when you way up the thickness of the ice and make a good judgement of the strength of it then its up to you to make that decision.
There are people who do dangerous things every single day that cause alot of more deaths % wise, just this is an example of a risky thing thats a 'novelty' I guess.

By the way wingnut, having a child on your shoulders would mean concentrating all the weight at one point, which is really the last thing you should do tbh.

iguana

I've heard that it's extremely dangerous because the ice is currently suspended on nothing as the water in the lake isn't replenishing so there is 6-18" of a gap between the ice and the water. Basically it doesn't matter if Beth Ditto and Johnny Vegas were doing a tango out there 10 minutes ago and you are only 7 stone it could still crack under you. Fair enough if you go on the ice where you know that it is shallow. But people have been clearly going out on the ice way beyond where they would be in their depth.

ABEasy

iguana wrote: »

I've heard that it's extremely dangerous because the ice is currently suspended on nothing as the water in the lake isn't replenishing so there is 6-18" of a gap between the ice and the water. Basically it doesn't matter if Beth Ditto and Johnny Vegas were doing a tango out there 10 minutes ago and you are only 7 stone it could still crack under you. Fair enough if you go on the ice where you know that it is shallow. But people have been clearly going out on the ice way beyond where they would be in their depth.

How does that work? Thought water expanded when it froze.

Builderfromhell some more pics below, anybody hear about cars getting stuck tryin' to get up the hill?

iguana

ABEasy wrote: »

How does that work? Thought water expanded when it froze.

The water from the rivers that feed the lake aren't at full capacity. Normally this would mean the lakes height would drop but the top layer is frozen. The frozen part stays where it is and the water beneath drops. There was a geologist on the radio last week telling people why it's so dangerous on the lakes right now. And that it doesn't matter how solid it looks, it's a serious accident waiting to happen. It's already happened in England this week, there is nothing to stop it happening in Ireland.

zuroph

Christ! Right out in the middle, ****in idiots. someone will fall in the next few days as the thaw starts.

Went walking on the fountains in UL, at least they're only a few inches deep.

knockon

God help Baby Edward if that is the way his Guardians respect his safety!

x in the city

stupid thing to do, how do you know exactly how 'thick' ice is or what it can put up with before it cracks.

ice can crack at any given moment, and if it does and your on top , bye bye

having said that, there a town in siberia where the river that flows thru it often freezes completely and cars drive across to the other side of town...:rolleyes:

talking minus 50/60 degrees tho so different league.

side note, tourists are warned not to wear glasses as they freeze at minus 40...you your face.

Jigga

RonMexico and sparkysrovers are right, it is idiotic and dangerous.

Look at these clowns in Monaghan, I hope nobody did this in Lough Gur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2By7wbmNJk

bazz26

Darwin Award material that.

h3000

wylo wrote: »

im sorry Ill probably get slated for this but Im sick of people coming on with their views about people walking on frozen lakes that are inches thick.
Some of these lakes are extremely thick, you could smash a giant rock off them and nothing would happen. Im 14 stone and was walking on the cratlow lake. It was brilliant , probably a once in a lifetime experience.
Im naturally over cautious but this was exteremly safe, Id imagine lough gur was even thicker.

ABEasy wrote: »

When I was at the lake there were loads on the ice, me included it was at least 5-6 inches thick. I don't think it was dangerous on the lake as long as u stayed close to shore where the ice was thick.

How do you know how thick it was? Did you drill many different sections of the ice to check the thickness?
Or did you just give it a kick or two/throw a big rock at it and guess???

Roadend

knockon wrote: »

God help Baby Edward if that is the way his Guardians respect his safety!

The pictures were taken from the bank, clearly

topper75

knockon wrote: »

God help Baby Edward if that is the way his Guardians respect his safety!

Baby Edward's folks allow him to live his life. They'll be a great memory and the photographs will last through future decades. God help the mollycoddled, for they shall experience nothing (apart from watching others in fear).

I was out on the Cratloe woods lake myself. Absolutely wonderful. Once in a lifetime chance. You wouldn't have bust it with a pick axe.

Itsdacraic

Stay off the lake

Surveyor11

Look's like we're going to see plenty more of this, http://www.independent.ie/national-news/warning-over-frozen-lakes-after-girl-falls-through-ice-2008213.html.

ABEasy

h3000 wrote: »

How do you know how thick it was? Did you drill many different sections of the ice to check the thickness?
Or did you just give it a kick or two/throw a big rock at it and guess???

there were hairline cracks in the ice which occur as it freezes, u can clearly see the thickness of the ice from these.

And don't worry baby Edward is a good swimmer!

zuroph

ABEasy wrote: »

there were hairline cracks in the ice which occur as it freezes, u can clearly see the thickness of the ice from these.

And don't worry baby Edward is a good swimmer!

well according to the above article two people have already fallen through. Imagine what happens, you fall through a hole into icy water. Your heavy winter clothes soak immediately pulling you down. You struggle back to top, only to not be able to find the hole you went through, now trapped under the ice in freezing temperatures struggling without air. How long do you think you could last? Even if you find the hole, what are you going to grab onto to pull yourself out? The ice? You'd have no grip. Other people? They can't get close enough due to the weakened and broken ice.

ABEasy

zuroph wrote: »

well according to the above article two people have already fallen through. Imagine what happens, you fall through a hole into icy water. Your heavy winter clothes soak immediately pulling you down. You struggle back to top, only to not be able to find the hole you went through, now trapped under the ice in freezing temperatures struggling without air. How long do you think you could last? Even if you find the hole, what are you going to grab onto to pull yourself out? The ice? You'd have no grip. Other people? They can't get close enough due to the weakened and broken ice.

Christ, I only wanted to put up a few pics of a frozen lake. We all know the dangers of being on ice, don't need the PC brigade lecturing us. If someone wants to take risk, it's there business (as long as they're not putting anyone else in danger). So please lay off the what ifs?

iguana

zuroph wrote: »

well according to the above article two people have already fallen through.

Exactly. I can't believe how stupid people are being. Do they think that people are telling them it's dangerous just to be killjoys? The are saying because it is extremely dangerous.

Meanwhile, gardai warned of the dangers on frozen Lough Gur in Limerick over the weekend. Last week, two Cork teenagers escaped tragedy when they plunged through the ice in separate accidents at the Lough.

h3000

ABEasy wrote: »

Christ, I only wanted to put up a few pics of a frozen lake. We all know the dangers of being on ice, don't need the PC brigade lecturing us. If someone wants to take risk, it's there business (as long as they're not putting anyone else in danger). So please lay off the what ifs?

What about the search and rescue personnel that have to help these people when they do go through the ice?

People are just trying to point out how dangerous it is, they are not doing it just to annoy you. The ice may very well be 5 inches thick on one part of the water but could very easily be two inches thick a few feet away. If there are any large rocks/logs for instance in the water they can cause the water to move/swirl which does not freeze as quick or strong as standing water.

Aidric

h3000 wrote: »

How do you know how thick it was? Did you drill many different sections of the ice to check the thickness?
Or did you just give it a kick or two/throw a big rock at it and guess???

These were the exact questions that popped in to my head when I saw the responses on this thread. The stupidity of people will never fail to amaze.

Amazotheamazing

h3000 wrote: »

What about the search and rescue personnel that have to help these people when they do go through the ice?

People are just trying to point out how dangerous it is, they are not doing it just to annoy you. The ice may very well be 5 inches thick on one part of the water but could very easily be two inches thick a few feet away. If there are any large rocks/logs for instance in the water they can cause the water to move/swirl which does not freeze as quick or strong as standing water.

Considering the entire country has been walking on lakes for the last two weeks and no one has drowned yet, maybe it's not actually that dangerous? Probably because most people have enough cop on to not go put in lakes where the ice is thin or the water deep.

I'm convinced some people spend their lives measuring how dangerous any day is is, and to me, that's no sort of living at all. Life without risk, even moderate, walking on shallow lakes ones, is no life at all.