Generations ago, skating was a more frequent winter pastime in Vancouver --- a fresh-air, outdoor pastime.

Skaters flocked to Trout Lake in John Hendry Park and Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. They wore jaunty hats and played more games than just shinny.

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Skaters hold hands to form a massive circle and play a game on Trout Lake in 1929. Photo Vancouver Archives AM1535



A man and woman, both wearing charming hats that can't do much for warming their ears, skate on Trout Lake in the late 1800s in this undated photograph. Photo Vancouver Archives AM54-S4-1



Over the past century, fewer and fewer days saw the temperature drop low enough to form ice on the city's lakes and ponds. If it happens this winter, the park board will inform residents it's safe.

As of now, the park board warns that the ice is not thick enough to support people or animals, such as dogs. In the Courier newsroom, one reporter remembers skating on Lost Lagoon as a teenager in the early '80s.



Groups of people skate arm-in-arm around Lost Lagoon in an undated photo from the 1930s. Photo Vancouver Archives AM1376



Skaters play hockey in Stanley Park on Lost Lagoon in the mid-1920s. Photo Vancouver Archives AM54-S4



South Surrey's Serpentine River and Richmond's Garry Point Park host ice hockey games and skating, but in the city of Vancouver, the park board warns skaters to stay off the ice for the present moment.

Spectators gather on the edge of Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park as skaters move through fresh snow on the frozen pond in 1929. Photo Vancouver Archives AM1535

The Vancouver park board has posted warning signs at the following 11 locations, warning people the ice is not safe to walk or skate on. Even if it looks thick enough, the park board warns to stay off the ice at these parks:

Trout Lake

Lost Lagoon

Beaver Lake

Devonian Park

Aquarium pond

Charleson Park

Granville Island ponds

Queen Elizabeth Park ponds and streams

Everett Crowley Park ponds and streams

Vanier Park

Jericho Park

A warning sign at Trout Lake. Photo Dan Toulgoet

mstewart@vancourier.com

Twitter: @MHStewart