When Mirror Lake froze last week, it gave some students a new path across campus.
Friday afternoon, one student tested the surface and encouraged others to follow while a passing tour of prospective students looked on.
Sarah Mendlovic, a fourth-year in nursing, braved a walk on the ice while her friend watched from a safe distance.
“I saw other people doing it and there were footprints,” Mendlovic said. “I’ve wanted to for a couple days now.”
During her walk across the frozen body of water on the south side of OSU’s campus, two students on the center of the ice attempted to build a snowman with the freshly fallen snow.
Student Life spokesman Dave Isaacs warned that the bubbler fountain on the east side of Mirror Lake keeps the water from freezing completely.
“There’s never a time when it’s safe to walk on ice on Mirror Lake,” Isaacs said.
He also said it is impossible to judge the strength of any ice just by looking at it.
Mendlovic admitted she felt unsafe crossing the ice. She stuck to walking on the shallow end, but other students were not as careful, venturing further toward the center of the lake.
Issacs discouraged students from attempting to walk on the ice.
“There’s a great possibility of falling into the frigid water and hypothermia can set in very quickly,” he said.
Several inches of snow fell in the Columbus area last Friday, as cold weather persisted all week. Despite the recent snow, the weather is expected to warm up over the next week with highs between approximently 45 and 60 degrees through Wednesday.