Thousands skate on Swiss waterways but do so "at their own risk"

Skaters are braving freezing temperatures to venture onto frozen Swiss lakes and other waterways. However, officials are warning that some areas - such as Lake Neuchâtel - are unsafe. And as Swisster discovers, safety measures over skating "au naturelle" are
somewhat sketchy and members of the public generally have to take their chances. There’s something nostalgic about skating in the open air on a frozen lake or river – a throw-back to another era when the grip of global warming hadn’t yet triggered a trend in balmy Swiss winters.
Not this season.Temperatures have been glacial over the past few weeks, hitting seasonal lows on the night of Saturday and Sunday in some areas according to MétéoSuisse; hence many frozen waterways throughout the country have been attracting thousands of amateurs of the toe loop or axel.
The Lac de Joux in canton Vaud is open to the public and saw hundreds of skaters this weekend. So too did the Lac Noir in canton Fribourg where officials reported an ice thickness of 25 centimetres. An estimated 4,000 people are said by local officials to have practised the sport on a single water body in Schwyz.
 
Other regions however, are not quite frigid enough. In Neuchâtel, Lac Taillères and Lac Brenets are considered dodgy according to the local tourist office which said heavy snow has hampered efforts to evaluate ice thickness.
 
In Canton Valais, the snow is said to have protected the ice on Lac Géronde and Lac Montorge from the cold, preventing it from thickening sufficiently.
 
Natural rinks in Canton Jura also carry a local tourist office warning though it hasn’t prevented members of the public from clearing sections of snow for skating. 
 
The Swiss Accident Prevention Bureau’s list of recommendations (in French) for skating safety says don’t venture onto the ice without clearance from competent authorities; always observe relevant signs; never tamper with waterside life-saving equipment; avoid assembling in groups on the ice when the temperature is rising; immediately lift arms to the side in the event of ice rupture before attempting to exit on the side that you entered and; alert life-saving officials immediately should you witness an accident, grab some “life-saving material” (presumably a handy rope or buoy?) and crawl to the side of the hole in the ice to effect a rescue.
 
According to the Bureau, life-saving on Swiss waterways actually lies within the domain of the Swiss Society for Life-saving (SSS). Swisster visited the website, but there was no general telephone number. Later the SSS provided us with a flyer which provides identical information to that of the Bureau.
 
Back in Neuchâtel, local radio reported this morning that there was skating on the River Doubs but emphasized that members of the public did so “entirely at their own risk,” a directive echoed by the Jura and Neuchâtel tourist offices, while the latter added that there was no official responsibility to protect skaters on Swiss waterways. 
 
In the meantime, skaters are out of luck in cantons Geneva and Zurich where reports say none of the lakes and rivers are suitably frozen for the sport.

Skaters are braving freezing temperatures to venture onto frozen Swiss lakes and other waterways. However, officials are warning that some areas - such as Lake Neuchâtel - are unsafe. And as Swisster discovers, safety measures over skating "au naturelle" are
somewhat sketchy and members of the public generally have to take their chances. There’s something nostalgic about skating in the open air on a frozen lake or river – a throw-back to another era when the grip of global warming hadn’t yet triggered a trend in balmy Swiss winters.
Not this season.Temperatures have been glacial over the past few weeks, hitting seasonal lows on the night of Saturday and Sunday in some areas according to MétéoSuisse; hence many frozen waterways throughout the country have been attracting thousands of amateurs of the toe loop or axel.
The Lac de Joux in canton Vaud is open to the public and saw hundreds of skaters this weekend. So too did the Lac Noir in canton Fribourg where officials reported an ice thickness of 25 centimetres. An estimated 4,000 people are said by local officials to have practised the sport on a single water body in Schwyz.
 
Other regions however, are not quite frigid enough. In Neuchâtel, Lac Taillères and Lac Brenets are considered dodgy according to the local tourist office which said heavy snow has hampered efforts to evaluate ice thickness.
 
In Canton Valais, the snow is said to have protected the ice on Lac Géronde and Lac Montorge from the cold, preventing it from thickening sufficiently.
 
Natural rinks in Canton Jura also carry a local tourist office warning though it hasn’t prevented members of the public from clearing sections of snow for skating. 
 
The Swiss Accident Prevention Bureau’s list of recommendations (in French) for skating safety says don’t venture onto the ice without clearance from competent authorities; always observe relevant signs; never tamper with waterside life-saving equipment; avoid assembling in groups on the ice when the temperature is rising; immediately lift arms to the side in the event of ice rupture before attempting to exit on the side that you entered and; alert life-saving officials immediately should you witness an accident, grab some “life-saving material” (presumably a handy rope or buoy?) and crawl to the side of the hole in the ice to effect a rescue.
 
According to the Bureau, life-saving on Swiss waterways actually lies within the domain of the Swiss Society for Life-saving (SSS). Swisster visited the website, but there was no general telephone number. Later the SSS provided us with a flyer which provides identical information to that of the Bureau.
 
Back in Neuchâtel, local radio reported this morning that there was skating on the River Doubs but emphasized that members of the public did so “entirely at their own risk,” a directive echoed by the Jura and Neuchâtel tourist offices, while the latter added that there was no official responsibility to protect skaters on Swiss waterways. 
 
In the meantime, skaters are out of luck in cantons Geneva and Zurich where reports say none of the lakes and rivers are suitably frozen for the sport.