Watch the 2013 Ice Harvest at Raquette Lake [VIDEO]

Harvesting ice in the Adirondacks and elsewhere in Upstate New York used to be big business.  The ice from the north country would be used as long into the summer as possible for cooling.

There is still one commercial ice harvest in the Adirondacks, and it happened last weekend in Raquette Lake.

From the YouTube video description:

Presently, Raquette Lake is the site of one of the last commercial ice cutting operations in the North Country. As soon as the ice reaches about 15 inches in thickness, the work begins. The ice field is cleared of snow and then the channel is cut. The actual cutting takes just one day and usually occurs in late February. Manager Jim Dillon says the ice blocks are put away in the annex and covered ( no sawdust these days). As the ice melts pumps push the water through pipes from the annex to the store where RL ice is used to cool the produce case and provide the air conditioning for the Tap Room