Largest
Naturally Frozen Ice Rink - Lipno lake sets world record
LIPNO LAKE, Czech Republic -- Lipno Lake in the southern
Czech Republic has a naturally frozen ice rink stretching
10,9 kilometres long (6.83 miles) and six to eight metres
(8,7 yards)
wide - setting the new world record for the Largest
Naturally Frozen Ice Rink.
"It's the world'sLargest Naturally Frozen Ice Rink," said local
businessman Jan Stanek, who has taken over the task
of maintaining the icy surfaces stretching an average 10 kilometres
long (6.25 miles) and six to eight metres (yards) wide.
The lengh of the Largest
Naturally Frozen Ice Rink was measured last year
when the ice stretched even longer than usual, reaching 10,922
metres or nearly 11 kilometers (6.8 miles), according to official
Czech records.
Every day, one man skates over 50 kilometres,
pushing a one-metre broad brush propelled by an engine. "But
we have now bought another brush for another cleaner," Stanek
said. Stanek also measures the thickness of the ice regularly,
using a home-made device fashioned from a child's ski stick
that is stuck into a hole drilled through the ice.
A dam built on the Vltava river to generate
hydro-electric power in the 1950s created the lake that holds
pride of place in this once sleepy zone now a bustling tourist
attraction drawing Dutch, German and Russian visitors.
In summer, it is replete with swimmers,
anglers and sailors. In winter, there are the skaters and
the skiers. Lipno lake is frozen from December to
March. s soon as the lake is frozen there is a track prepared
in between Lipno and Frymburk, this track is one of Czech
Republic's best ice-skating track, with a total length of
11 km. This track is like a highway of 6-8 m wide, for free.
In Lipno nad Vltavou next to the ice-skating track
there is Lipno Rent where ice-skates are for rent, 70 pairs
for children, woman and men, also the maintaining, sharpening
of the skates. On the track there is a snack bar which offers
warm drinks and grilled specialties.
Lipno's boom in the past two decades, which
owes much to Dutch investors who fell in love with the area,
saw record numbers last year with the rink attracting up to
70,000 skaters, according to Stanek. On weekends, up to 5,000
skaters show up daily. Maintenance -- financed by towns in
the region -- requires a lot of elbow grease.
On the 3rd of February 2009, certain individuals
came on behalf of the Czech agency ''Dobry
Den'' and the Czech media onto the ice-skating track
to record the measurement in the Czech records. Eventually
after the professional measurement of the track, the result
was 10 992 m.
The previous Guinness world record for the Largest
Naturally Frozen Ice Rink was the 8.5-kilometre rink
from Winnipeg in 2008; before that, the Guinness world record
holder was Ottawa's Rideau Canal which registered in 2005
as the world's longest rink at 7.8 kilometres.