Tag: ice skating

The thaw has set in, and whatever ice remains on the canals of Amsterdam is now unsafe.

Most likely the ice skates won’t come out of storage again this year.

If the freezing temperatures predicted for this coming week persist, with any luck we’ll be able to ice skate on the canals of Amsterdam. The last time that happened was in February 2012.

The City of Amsterdam maintains an Ice Protocol that details the various steps the Water Authority should take in order to make ice skating possible.

Updated: Tuesday, February 27, 2018: The Ice Protocol has gone into effect!

Technically it’s still winter, of course, but today the sun is shining and the deep freeze that had all the Netherlands in its grip for a week or so is only a memory.

With that in mind, here we present one more video — this one in retro style — of the ice skating fun we Amsterdammers had last week.

It’s been more than a decade since the winter weather in Amsterdam was cold enough — for long enough — to allow people to ice skate the city’s famous canals. But the winter of 2012 will long be remembered for its excellent ice skating weather. Watch this beautiful video.

This Saturday, for the first time in fifteen years, the Keizersrace — a short distance ice skating race is to held in Amsterdam.

The Emperor’s Race, organized by local news daily De Telegraaf, takes place on Keizersgracht — literally, Emperor’s Canal.

Every few years the weather in Amsterdam gets cold enough to allow people to ice skate the canals.

Here’s video to prove it.

Effective this thursday, the city of Amsterdam wil cancel a recent ban on sailing through some of its canals.

The ban was meant to allow a network of canals to freeze over — turning a large section of the city into a giant ice skating rink. But the weather isn’t playing along…