I know what you mean. I was on a lake yesterday in a 185 on skis and it looked great from the air, wtih blue ice, great looking cracks, clear and solid, a small layer of recent snow. Not worth dragging. But once on the lake, the drag was horrible, steering took almost full power and when I did a 360 to check the surface the tracks were real deep and filling with water. I continued the turn and got the hell out of there. Could not see the justification of getting stuck.
However my point was not how to fly on ice, thanks all the same. It was on what lake or river distance you would like to see for training. 6000 feet? 4000?