People are skating from city to city across Lake Minnetonka to eat lunch, grab a beer — or just because they can.
This winter's wacky combination of mild and snow-free days has left a glassy surface on many of the area's frozen lakes. That includes Lake Minnetonka, the metro's largest and busiest, where skaters have been gliding around Big Island and Enchanted Island, playing hockey, riding iceboats, landing planes, even taking a spin on a tractor-pulled couch.
"It's like nothing I've ever seen before," said Tia Black, whose house overlooks Excelsior Bay.
"We've got the biggest rink nature ever made," said Bill Wenmark of Victoria, an outdoor-sports enthusiast and coach.
Observers estimated that hundreds of people were out on the lake over the weekend, including families, groups of hockey players and individuals whose skating skills were a bit rusty but couldn't pass up the chance to use them on Minnetonka.
"I haven't put skates on in 30 years," said Dan DeMuth of Long Lake, who laced up Sunday to skate from Wayzata to Excelsior and back. "It's really a unique situation out there."
Lake Minnetonka has been skateable before, usually in the late fall or early winter before much snow falls. But longtime residents say this year's conditions are the best they can remember.
"In some spots you could look down at it and see your reflection," said John Gilbertson, who lives in Waconia and grew up in Excelsior.