One of the Netherlands distinctive characteristics is its flatness. So, now that one of its lakes has coughed up ice mountains, the Dutch finally have their chance at "mountain climbing".The IJsselmeer (international spelling: Lake Yssel) is Western Europe's largest lake but has only been around since 1932, when the creation of the Afsluitdijk dam (more on this beast later) split it off of the Zuiderzee (a former inlet off the North Sea).
Thanks to this winter, the lake has been creating ice mountains up to 6m high (which is also as deep as this shallow lake gets). This happens when ice sheets break and are pushed into each other by the wintry wind, creating a nice big pile of ice. Perfect for a game of king of the mountain.
Many are making their pilgrimage here to take advantage of this rare height. Hopefully we'll have time to go take a peek ourselves and take in this wintry phenomena.
More photos can be seen here.
Colder but just as much fun as sand dunes!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos... it would definitely be cool to go check them out.
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