Caution is being urged for those travelling on ice. (File photo/paNOW staff)

By Ronald Quaroni

Ice Safety

Heavy snowfall and running water pose dangers to ice travel

Feb 22, 2019 | 2:00 PM

Despite the cold weather and excellent snowfall, it’s still dangerous to ride a snowmobile over ice.

Sgt. Daryl Minter, a local conservation officer, is encouraging riders to stay off the North Sask. River.

“They’re taking a huge risk when they are doing that, because the water in the river is continually moving and it really creates quite a variance in the ice thickness,” Minter said.

The river isn’t the only water related danger to riders.

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Heavy snowfall in the area has led to a large amount of snow on lakes which increases the weight on the ice. This increased weight combined with pressure ridges can result in water being pushed on top of the ice.

“The water that comes up through the ice, it’s underneath the snow and it just spreads out on top of the ice. We just call it slush, it can be quite a nightmare when you’re on a snowmobile and you run into one of those patches,” Minter said. “If you get stuck in that slush it’s a lot of work, it can be very cold, it can be a very dangerous situation.”

He warned that even for locals travelling over lakes, conditions can change abruptly.

“Ice ridges can occur overnight and something that wasn’t there yesterday might suddenly be out on the lake,” Minter said.

Minter added that while the bitter cold has kept a lot of ice fishers off the lakes, he expects that activity to pick up as we enter warmer temperatures.

He hopes everyone who is venturing out on the ice will follow ice thickness guidelines and safe practices.

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ron.quaroni@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni