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Skaters playing shinny on Whonnock Lake

Several groups of skaters arrive at Maple Ridge’s hidden gem of a lake

The weather was chilly, and the gusting wind made it bitingly cold, -10 C or worse with the wind chill, but skaters were racing around Whonnock Lake on Saturday afternoon wearing just their hockey jerseys.

It was bright and sunny, and two or three separate games of shinny were going at the same time, while people on the shore shivered beside a propane fire pit and cursed the wind.

Oral Tahara, who says safety is his business, confirmed that the ice was four and five inches thick before he took his two youngsters out for a skate.

They live close by, but it hasn’t been cold enough to skate on the little lake in two years, he said.

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Chloe, 7, Charlie, 4, and Oral Tahara of Maple Ridge lace up their skates on Whonnock Lake in Maple Ridge on Saturday afternoon. Oral said the ice was checked at a thickness of more than four inches, but is obviously thin in places near the shore. (Neil Corbett/THE NEWS)
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There were several groups of skaters and about 30 in total at Whonnock Lake in Maple Ridge on Saturday afternoon. (Neil Corbett/THE NEWS)
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Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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