Evergreen Lake Opening Friday For Ice Skating; Icy Plunge Days Away

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EVERGREEN, Colo. (CBS4) -- Frigid temperatures are coming at the perfect time. Evergreen Lake is scheduled open Friday morning to ice skating for the first time this winter, and a full slate of New Year's activities quickly follows.

Peter Pereira of Centennial took this picture at Evergreen Lake's Skate the lake event on Dec. 29, 2010. "Lots of skaters, hockey players and onlookers," he wrote.

The depth of the ice is finally reaching minimum standards, according to personnel from the Evergreen Park & Recreation District.

"EPRD wants the ice to be 12 inches thick from a safety standpoint," wrote the agency in a community alert. "While EPRD staff is flooding the rink with water to increase the depth and smooth the surface, EPRD can't use machinery such as the Zamboni until the ice is 16 inches thick."

Zamboni or not, the rink is tentatively set to open at 8 a.m.

Timothy Tolnay took this photo at the Evergreen Lake Plunge.

New Year's Eve will be an eventful night at the 8.5-acre venue with music, food trucks and fireworks starting at 6 p.m.

(credit: CBS)

The next morning, brave souls will test the icy waters in the annual Evergreen Lake Plunge. The event was postponed then eventually cancelled in 2017 due to warm temperatures and thin ice. Last year, organizers considered moving the event indoors for the same reason before giving the nod to having it on the lake.

CBS4's Alan Gionet emceed the Evergreen Lake Plunge 2016 (credit: CBS)

The Evergreen Pond Hockey Championship gears up the following weekend.

Copter4 flew over Evergreen Lake on Thursday morning (credit: CBS)

Overnight temperatures are expected to reach the single digits the next several nights.