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As trends go, it’s proving a welcome one. 

In 2017, Trout Lake froze over enough for ice skating, marking the first time Vancouverites were able to play good old-fashioned outdoor pond hockey in 20 years. It was a quintessentially Canadian experience—the kind of thing that folks in Moose Jaw, Winnipeg, and Quebec City take for granted. 

Then, making one wonder if your perpetually enraged great uncle Melvin is right about global warming being a government-conspiracy snowflake hoax, it froze over again in 2021, turning Trout Lake into a magnet for everyone with a Elias Pettersson jersey and a pair of CCM Tacks.

This year, as we speak, the place no sensible person in the city ever swims in during summer is once again frozen, making East Van look like a winter wonderland this past weekend.

In case you’re curious, 12 inches is the depth of ice required before the Vancouver Parks Board deems the lake safe for skating. 

So are we blessed these past few years, or just lucky? Good question. For a semi-reliable answer as to how many times Vancouver’s ponds have frozen over enough for impromptu hockey games and triple salchows over the past century, find yourself a 90-year-old who remembers walking uphill in the snow barefoot in Kits at age seven, and then settle in for storytime. Or spend three or four hours on hold with Environment Canada. 

But for a more informal idea, head to the Vancouver City Archives, where you’ll find photos over the years of Trout Lake frozen over and filled with skaters.

Enjoy. And see you on the ice.