Since 2010, farmer Evan Perkins has spent his winters exploring the wild ice outdoors around his home in Barnet. Wild ice is ungroomed, and Perkins wears Nordic skates to glide across the uneven surface. He owns Small Axe Farm with his wife, Heidi Choate, who often joins him on skating adventures. In between food deliveries, Perkins clicks on his skates and takes off — sometimes traveling between 50 and 100 miles over different frozen bodies of water. He shares videos of these visually stunning escapades on the farm’s Instagram page, @smallaxefarmvermont.
For the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger met up with Perkins at the Apple Island Marina in South Hero for a Nordic skating lesson. Perkins also shared safety tips and stressed how important it is to be prepared for anything out on the ice.
Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode.
How did you learn about Evan Perkins?
A coworker sent me the farm’s Instagram page and suggested a video about wild ice skating. Perkins’ skating videos are stunning. He captures snakelike ice formations, foggy dreamscapes, clouds reflecting off the transparent surface and skaters silhouetted against the sunset. It’s a window onto a world that most of us won’t be able to visit, but I wanted to give it a shot.
Looks like you had a lot of safety gear.
Perkins was game to do a video if I agreed to highlight the safety precautions. If you’re out on wild ice, you have to be prepared to take a swim. I have filmed many videos on the ice over the years and was never properly prepared. Perkins has broken through the ice a few times and educated me about safety gear. On this outing, I wore a bike helmet, a personal flotation device and ice claws around my neck. Perkins carried a dry bag with a change of clothes and a throw bag in a backpack. This would also act as a flotation device if he took a dip.
Did you already have skates?
Perkins loaned me some Nordic skates and ski boots for the outing. It took me a while to get the boot attached to the long, thin blade, and once it was connected, I could barely stand upright. I guess all those hours spent skating as a kid were a long time ago. Perkins is so fast and elegant on the ice — I was hoping to skate alongside him to capture footage, but that was not possible. Instead, I stumbled after him using his Nordic skating poles, which he also uses to test the ice.
Was it hard filming and skating?
It was 15 degrees, sunny and windy. I had a number of technical difficulties. My scarf got tangled in my headphones, so I stopped using them — big mistake. I realized later that Perkins’ mic died after 20 minutes, so I used audio from my mic and amped it up — which is why you can hear me panting and sniffling (sorry!). The GoPro on my helmet died after about 30 minutes. I had left my camera bag with all the backup batteries in my car, which was about a quarter mile away. All of these issues are hard to solve when you’re on a windswept lake with a drippy nose and frozen hands, trying to stay upright. Perkins helped out by doing circles around me while I filmed him, and he took my phone out for a few selfie spins.
Were you worried about falling in?
Not really; the ice was more than a foot thick. And it was serene being out there, even though I couldn’t skate very well. Someone left a comment on one of Perkins’ videos saying that he “make[s] it look easy.” He certainly does, but there is a lot of experience, knowledge and preparation that goes into each skate. As Perkins said, “It’s always a gift to get onto a body of water on smooth ice and be able to fly across it.” I will continue to enjoy Perkins’ skating adventures from the comfort of my phone.
‘Stuck’ on Ice
“Stuck in Vermont” filmed both the Vermont Pond Hockey Championships (2011) and Ice Sports University (2014) at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee. Ice can be temperamental, and some years it is better than others. Unfortunately, after numerous weather-related cancellations, both events have been permanently discontinued. But other related events have popped up, such as the Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic and the Frostbite Face-Off, which went ahead as planned this year. 2025 has been a good year for ice, and hockey lovers and ice fans are rejoicing!
For those wanting to hit the ice in Fairlee, the Lake Morey Skate Trail is the longest groomed ice skating trail in the U.S. It’s now maintained by the Town of Fairlee as a free public-access trail. Learn more at fairleevt.gov/lakemorey.
![Vermont Pond Hockey Championships [210]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/episode210.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
![Ice Sports University [SIV340]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/episode340-3-e1755139007162.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
This article appears in Love & Marriage Issue 2025.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!