Hollands Kanaler
Sorry guys, that I couldn´t react sooner. I was in Värmland for the Christmas week (and did very good skating with Valter, tack Valter!). Niklas, thanks for the all the right answers about skating in Holland.
The message that we could skate was correct. Se bifogade bilder. But, it was a very short period, from friday 21 december to sunday 23 december. And only on very narrow and undeep canals, with only about 4 to 7 cm ice. So, that was no stable situation to come all the way from Sweden down to Holland.
That we in Holland have a lot to learn about safety, is proven by the fact that there were lots of plurrnings in such a short period. The reason that all could get out of the water is the fact Niklas writes about: there is so many people skating on relatively small areas, most of the times there is someone to help you.
Hollands LSK is trying to "import" the safety thinking from Sweden to Holland, starting with having good equipment, and including the system where you skate in a group with a guide. The first official tour of HLSK was fridaymorning 21 december at Kamerik, near Utrecht. The pictures are of that day. No accidents happened. Marcel van Bemmel (he lives in Kamerik) was leader and did a very good job. Directly after this tour I left to go to Sweden for a week, with trips on Norra Vänern, Rinnen, Knon och Deglunden, so I had a really good skating week!
/Rob.