The day after Michigan's final home football game of the season, preparation began for The Big Chill at the Big House, the hockey game pitting Michigan against Michigan State at Michigan Stadium. The game isn't until Saturday, Dec. 11, but the process of getting the stadium ready is already underway.
Right now, as the video below shows, crews are working to install the platform that the ice for The Big Chill will be installed on. The platform includes one layer that serves to protect the FieldTurf, as Michigan obviously doesn't want that to be damaged considering it was just installed this past summer. Another layer is what appears to be a wooden surface, which is also being installed based on these pictures from UMGoBlue.com.
Once the platform is fully installed, crews can start installing the ice, a process that takes a few days. There will actually be games played on the ice toward the end of next week in order to get the surface more game-ready for The Big Chill. One of the problems for the game at Camp Randall Stadium between Michigan and Wisconsin earlier this year was that the ice wasn't worn down very much, resulting in a rather bad surface. Michigan plans to prevent this from happening by allowing games to be played in the week leading up to The Big Chill. Also, with the preparations beginning already, there will be plenty of time to fix the surface if any changes need to be made.