Pack Ice

Pack ice began as a thin layer of ice that was broken up by wind and waves before it had time to thicken. The resulting ice chunks were blown together by the wind into a jumbled mess. Pack ice is generally unskateable, but you can pick your way across it on skates, one step at a time, if you have ice poles with sharp tips.
Pack ice collects at a boundary between thicker ice and open water. If the open water later freezes, you’ll need to cross the pack ice (or ‘rubble band’ as it’s sometimes called) to get to the newer, smoother ice.
Over time, pack ice slowly transforms from jagged heaps to rounded bumps as it’s acted upon by sun, wind, rain and warm temperatures. But the mosaic of different colors and shapes remains encased in the ice sheet sitting beneath your blades.

Pack ice on Newfound Lake, with a dark strip of open water beyond.

More pack ice on Newfound Lake, this time with a sheet of new black ice beyond.