A seasonal ice skating rink in Milton Keys, England, has been getting a lot of attention because of a bright pink iPhone stuck under two inches of ice.

Skaters at the Willen on Ice skating rink in Milton Keys will sometimes stop in the middle of the giant ice rink to stare at something under the ice – a bright pink iPhone. It has become a sort of tourist attraction after the BBC and other UK media outlets reported about it online. Apparently, one of the workmen setting up the rink this year lost their smartphone and had to borrow their daughter’s iPhone for a day only to forget it in the middle of the ice rink right before it was flooded with water and frozen overnight. The next day, some of his coworkers spotted it while inspecting the ice, but they could do nothing but laugh at his misfortune, as damaging the ice was out of the question.

Photo: Steve Hubbard/BBC

It wasn’t until later the following day that one of the team spotted the object in the middle of the rink and, on closer inspection, we could see it was Steve’s daughter’s phone,” said Rob Cook, director at Ice Leisure, the company in charge of setting up the ice rink. “Unfortunately, there is no way we will be able to get the phone out of the ice now. If we were to dig it out, it would affect the structure of the ice so it’ll remain entombed for the next two months.”

Chipping the iPhone out of the ice would ruin the smooth surface of the rink, and re-freezing the entire surface of the ice would be too expensive and time-consuming to even consider. All the forgetful workman could do was tell his daughter the truth and get her a replacement phone until this one could be thawed out.

Photo: MK Citizen

“My daughter wasn’t happy at the start, especially as she has just bought the new phone case, but after a short time – and the promise of a temporary replacement phone – she cooled off,” the man said. “I have promised that if the phone doesn’t work once it has thawed out, I will get her a new one.”

It’s unclear what type of iPhone it is, but the triple camera suggests it is a Pro model, so Willen on Ice staff will need to make sure that no one tries to chip the ice to retrieve it, although the chances of it being damaged by the water are pretty high.

 

Interestingly, the resilience of iPhones is legendary. Remember that iPhone 11 retrieved from the bottom of a lake a year after being dropped by its clumsy owner? It still worked.