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Photos: See what it looked like to ice skate in Vancouver parks a century ago

It's a sight we don't really see these days.

Many of us have never gotten to experience ice skating on the frozen waters of Vancouver's public parks in our lifetimes, but a century ago it was fairly common practice.

With the cold steady enough to keep the ice thick enough for holding ice skaters, once upon a time you could lace up and take a few spins on Lost Lagoon, Trout Lake, and Burnaby Lake.

Nowadays, in order for us to be able to skate on our park lakes the Vancouver Parks Board has to give the okay based on the ice thickness and temperature--and it doesn't happen often!

These photos from the Vancouver Archives are from the 1890s through the 1930s, and show the wintery fun of a time gone by.

Additionally, the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby uploaded a home video from circa 1927 showing people skating on Lost Lagoon.