There’s nothing quite like gliding over a massive sheet of clear ice while listening to the slicing of blades and the other-worldly “laser cracking and whumpfing” sounds of a frozen lake, according to Pinedale resident Dylan Bear, who grew up in Powell.

It’s been an especially good season for “wild ice” skating at Fremont Lake, Bear said, thanks to the combination of cold temps and a lack of heavy snow. Scores of skaters and fishermen have flocked to the 7,421-foot elevation reservoir just a couple miles outside Pinedale this winter to enjoy the ice, including local hockey teams. 

“When you’re out there, it’s like, ‘I can’t believe this is actually real,'” said Bear, a physical education teacher at Pinedale High School. “It’s mind-blowing that the ice is so clean. It’s like looking down through the water like you’re on a boat, but you’re skating.”

“A lot of people are skating at night, too, on the black ice,” Bear said. “It’s a big attraction for the locals.”