VIDEO: MT Man Skates on Crystal Clear Somers Bay Ice

Say what you will about our recent cold snap here in Montana, it did have some upsides, not the least of which is this startlingly beautiful video of a man ice skating in Somers Bay in Flathead County, Montana. 

In his own words, "I stopped off at Somers Bay to check out the ice on my lunch break. I was rewarded with 4" of crystal clear glass ice. I quickly laced up my skates and put on all the warm clothes I had. It was only 2 degrees, but the sunshine and perfect ice kept me out there. It was surreal skating along watching your shadow cruise across the bottom of the lake. I'll never forget how perfect it was skating that glass."

Just look at that ice. You can see clear through it to the ground. It's a beautiful, peaceful, and tranquil moment, and it reminds us that in many ways, winter is Montana's most beautiful season.  

It also paints a very different picture of Somers, MT, than that of socialist newspaper The Industrial Worker, which in 1909 proclaimed Somers "the nearest approach to hell on earth."  

Of course, in the Renaissance, conceptions of the 9th circle of Hell were of a vast and icy place, but we doubt the skating was all that good. 

Enjoy the full video below!