People have thought she tried to cross the lake
At Lochan Neck where zesty skaters crossed
From Exe to Wye on days of special frost.
Special frost: assuming Lochan Neck is a narrows between lakes
the waters there would be flowing more rapidly and thus
less susceptible to freezing over, and only safe to cross
at especially cold, i.e. frosty, times, and even then
a skater would be wise to cross it quickly:
A treacherous short-cut that would clearly be unsafe during a spring thaw.
Obviously the names Exeton and New Wye anticipate this passage.
The use of such unlikely [,coincidental] place names is ironic,
and makes the scene seem to the reader less likely and believable.
We're not supposed to feel fully Hazel's pain.
There are other ironies and exaggerations writ into
her otherwise not-too-substantial character.
Despite this, many readers do indeed grieve for Hazel.
Presumably because the story still contains elements
that strike too close to home in spite of all the irony.
This is why I view Pale Fire, the poem, as a
kind of experiment in irony, sentimentalism and kitsch.
We laugh, perhaps not too robustly,
and cry or sigh, if not at the same time
at least in very close proximity.