Ladies and Gentlemen,
Stacy and I drilled 9 holes in the BAY at Big Sandy today. Ice depth is 15 to 18 inches.
Most holes were 16 to 18 inches. Only one hole of the 9 was at 15 inches.
The variance is in the slush ice on top which is 1 to 3 inches depending.
The snow wasn't over 4 inches at any location, and in most spots had been packed down to 2 inches by sleds and 4 wheelers.
The slush ice is froze solid in all spots that we shoveled off, and still took some effort to drill through.
All holes had at least 14 inches of good ice, which drilled hard with the hand Auger.
Terry Roy of Eagle Point Lounge says the Aitkin County Sheriff plans to issue our permit on Monday.
We have the DNR Permit in hand.
The plan is to plow 2 parking areas on Wednesday to expose the ice to the neg temps.
We will plow the tracks on Thursday and Start shaving in the late afternoon.
There is also some room for parking by the restaurant lounge on land.
Remember as always, parking on the Ice is at your own risk.
Saturday we will park everybody at 50 foot spacing out by the island, if you wish to go out on the ice.
Big rigs will probably need to park by shore or venture out at your comfort level.
I think the key is to spread out for this race. Make plans accordingly.
At this time the race is a go! 
I appreciate any comments or any questions.
Thanks!
Ron
I believe that Ron had told me the track was about 1000' from the shore line.
With as cold as it is supposed to be the next few days, there should be no problem with parking.
Nate
Sheriff has issued the permit for Saturday, January 19th. He has requested that we park by shore in regard to the ice we have today.
It was minus 12 F this AM and supposed to be in the negatives the rest of the week.
The race is a go. Staring line is about 1000 feet from shore, so four wheeler or tow sled is good.
We will plow parking area out by starting line also.
Thanks!
Ron
Ron and the crew are up at McGregor as i write this. Looks like it will be a cold weekend, but it should be fun.
Hope to see everyone up there.
I will have plaques and checks up there for everyone that has them coming.
Nate
