A Postcard from the Moss: February 2025

The Glide Skating Ribbon

I love sending postcards when I travel, so once a month I share photos with a postcard-length blurb about a place I’ve recently visited.

When I saw photos of a new ice skating loop that winds through the trees of Northern Wisconsin, I was caught off guard by the intensity of my desire to go there. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve gone ice skating in the last two decades, so why did I care so much now?

As a kid, ice skating typically happened when the nearby ponds froze over. My parents would shovel snow off the ice to create an ephemeral rink, surrounded by trees and the occasional bird song, and we would zip about until someone suggested heading home for hot chocolate.

I’ve been on skates a few times since then, but always at crowded rinks where you go around and around the same tight loop and the backdrop is a long line of people waiting for their chance to get onto the ice. The Glide Skating Ribbon is nothing like that.

As I picked up my rental skates at the outfitter a half mile up the road, I was informed that I might need to wait a few minutes for the Zamboni to finish its work. Sure enough, when I arrived at Boulder Junction Winter Park, there were a couple guys wrangling hoses¹ and a half dozen people milling around the parking lot waiting for the go-ahead to start skating. Busier than I expected for midday on a Tuesday with a windchill of -11°F!

Stepping onto the ice a few minutes later, I feared that I had made a huge mistake. The short stretch from the warming shed to the start of the Glide seemed insurmountable—unlike a traditional rink, there was no wall to cling to as I got my sea legs. Just a few shuffling steps into my first loop, I heard the Zamboni coming up behind me as it finished its pass and, in a misguided attempt to look over my shoulder, I fell in slow motion onto the ice. This excursion was not going as planned, but I told myself I had to give it a full loop—0.8 miles—before giving up.

Within a quarter mile, I found my rhythm. The meandering curves of the trail kept the other skaters out of my line of sight, so it felt like I had the woods all to myself (aside from the few times I passed people taking breaks on the many benches). I may have even let out a “Whee!” or three, invigorated by the cold air against my face. And best of all, over five laps, I only fell one more time—when I picked up too much speed and threw myself into a snowbank because I couldn’t remember how to brake.

How to visit:

The Glide Skating Ribbon is located in Boulder Junction Winter Park in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. There is no fee to skate, but donations are accepted to help maintain the trail. If you don’t have ice skates, you can borrow some from the warming shed at the park or, if you want to ensure you’ll get the right size, rent from an outfitter about a half mile away in Boulder Junction. Port-a-potties are available in the parking lot and the trail is lit for night skating.

1. I asked one of the guys tending to the ice where I should store my shoes and after responding, he asked if I had a helmet. In the ensuing conversation, he urged me to wear one and “not worry about what you look like” because all the injuries he was seeing were from “your age group, you know, women 45-60.” My 37th birthday is in a month, but I guess I need to pick up a few extra candles for my cake! (In his defense, I was pretty bundled up and everyone else waiting to skate was in their 60s. I did wear a helmet and managed to stay injury-free during my visit to the Glide!)