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It's like floating over a virtual aquarium: ice skating with a crystal clear view of the bottom of the lake. A rare natural phenomenon on frozen Rabbit Lake in Anchorage, Alaska.Luc Mehl, outdoor athlete
»The combination of being able to look down three or four meters and see what's on the bottom is something I've never experienced in the 12 years I've been doing this.«
Mehl, who grew up in Alaska, is a certified ice savior. The huge boulders that can be seen beneath the frozen surface, some the size of a car, crashed from the mountains to the bottom of the lake hundreds or thousands of years ago. These rare recordings were taken in October.
Luc Mehl, outdoor expert and certified ice rescuer:
»Now it's gone. The window lasted about a week and now there is about 60 centimeters of snow over everything. Since it took around ten years for the conditions for the window to be ideal, it could now take another decade to get there again. «
The spectacle was made possible by an unusually cold and at the same time dry transition into winter.
Luc Mehl, outdoor expert and certified ice rescuer:
»I think the special thing is that the bottom of the lake here has no vegetation because it is up in the mountains. And here we find rock instead of earth. And that's why the water is really clear.«
Ideal conditions to be able to look down to the ground and admire the underwater world while ice skating. It reminded him of snorkeling in a lake or in the sea. However, caution is advised.
Luc Mehl, outdoor athlete :
"We'll go out and test the thickness of the ice before we go. We need about ten centimeters. So I examined the whole lake and tested the firmness and it was at least ten centimeters everywhere. It's a nice, firm ice that you can skate on."
Nevertheless, Luc Mehl always carries an ice axe and a rope on his body to pull himself out of the water if necessary.