It's been a pretty cold winter here in the Bold North this year, so we probably don't have to worry as much about thin ice on any of our 10,000 lakes as we have during some winters. But in Sweden, skating on really thin lake ice is a thing, and this amazing video shows how-- and why-- they do it.

The art of skating on thin or black ice on a frozen lake (something not really recommended by, oh, anyone in their right mind here in Minnesota) is called "Nordic Skating" or "Wild Ice Skating." And in Sweden, some hardy outdoorsy-types do it both for the thrill and for the way-cool, almost otherwordly sounds it makes.

According to this National Geographic story, wild ice skating is done usually in groups (so there are people to help in case you fall in) and usually right after a lake has frozen over (so probably November or December here in Minnesota-- not that you should try it, though.)

For instance, in the video below, this Swedish wild ice skater is standing on lake ice that's just 45-millimeters thick-- that's just under two inches! (For comparison, the Minnesota DNR advises that you stay off any ice that's less than FOUR inches thick.)

But skating on black ice that thin DOES make some way-cool sounds, as the video below shows. I just wouldn't want to try it. Would you?

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