Urgent warning

Ice too thin: these lakes are life-threatening

Lake Vassach is currently not intended for ice skating at all (symbolic image).

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

At first glance, some of Villach's lakes appear to be inviting for ice skating, as the cold nights have created a thin layer of ice. But the impression is deceptive - there is a danger to life.

In the night and early hours of the morning, temperatures have dropped below the freezing mark over the past few days - which is why a deceptive sheet of ice has formed on the Silbersee and Vassacher See lakes.

"However, this is still far too weak to be sustainable!" warns Dietmar Juvan, who is responsible for these lakes. "There is an absolute danger to life if you step on the ice! We are constantly monitoring and measuring the development of the ice surface; the few centimetres that are still present are absolutely not enough to enable safe ice skating." 

Only when a core ice layer forms and there is sufficient load-bearing capacity can the Silbersee be opened, but not the Vassacher See. "Due to the dense plant growth, a homogeneous, stable layer of ice cannot form here," says the city.