As the winter chill settles in, the thrill of getting out on the ice can be hard to deny.
But those wanting to venture outside for a skate or a fish should be wary. A solid lake to glide your skates on is never a guarantee, but the milder weather we’ve been experiencing is all the more reason to be cautious.
“Things can change quickly,” said Deb Bortolussi, a volunteer and public relations coordinator with the Central Cariboo Search and Rescue.
She cautioned not to trust word of mouth reports about whether the ice is safe for winter activities, and recommended people always test the ice thickness themselves. And by testing, she doesn’t simply mean tapping the ice with your foot or checking how it looks on the surface.
“You want it to be clear ice,” she said. You need at least four inches of clear ice before it's safe to walk on, seven inches to use a snowmobile and 16 to use a motor vehicle, Bortolussi said. To determine whether it’s safe for any of these activities, she said it’s important to use a tool such as an ice auger and to take multiple samples.
“Because of the change in hot and cold temperatures, the ice looks clear but then you drill through, and it’s actually cracked under,” Bortolussi warned. While a test may show the ice is seven inches thick, you may only find five inches which are clear ice – safe for a walk, but not for a snowmobile or a vehicle.
“Everything else is fragile and will not hold,” she said about the ice beneath clear ice. She compared it to the kind of ice you might find in a puddle and which cracks satisfyingly; not the kind of ice you want to encounter on an outdoor rink.
Along with testing the ice, Bortolussi said you should always be prepared for the worst-case scenario. If you do break through the ice, she said to remember the 1-10-1 rule. After being immersed in cold water, you have one minute to get your breathing under control, ten minutes to get your body out of the water and one hour before you could lose consciousness.
AdventureSmart, a national program aiming to inform Canadians around staying safe while exploring the outdoors, shares more tips about what to do if you break through ice. Among them, it says to kick your feet in the water while trying to get back on the ice like a seal, and to roll away from the hole rather than stand once you’re out.
After that, Bortolussi said to do “anything and everything” you can to stay warm and to make sure you are not alone. No matter how experienced you are, she said it’s important to have someone on the outside to monitor for signs of hypothermia such as disorientation or feeling really warm. If you are alone, call for help.
Bortolussi also said you should always follow AdventureSmart’s three Ts before you go out adventuring.
This means having a trip plan which includes ensuring someone knows where you are and when you should be back, having proper training, including knowing how to check the ice and remove yourself from it, and taking the essentials such as a life vest to wear on the ice, layers, spare clothes and an emergency blanket.
“None of us are above those safety procedures,” she said.
