Warm fall season leaves wild skaters on thin ice

CALGARY -

Most years the last weeks of November are often a magical time to glide across frozen mountain lakes before a thick blanket of snow covers them.

But this year warm temperatures and an early snowfall have kept ice in both short supply and precarious condition.

Many of the usual wild skating destinations in the Bow Valley still have patches of open water. Others have thin or variable ice thickness.

There has already been one call for rescue - a man went through the ice at Goat Pond above Canmore over the weekend. He was able to smash a channel through thin ice and make it to shore.

Also, a man in his 60s died over the weekend after falling through ice while walking at Emerson Lake, south of Calgary.

Public safety officials say skaters need to come prepared, no matter what they see or read on social media groups.

The most important is to anticipate having a way to pull yourself back up onto the ice, using something like a pair of ice picks on a string. There are commercial versions, but one can also be improvised with large screw eyes from a hardware store or nails stick in a length of dowel, then cut off and sharpened.

Also recommended is a drill or an ice screw to check ice thickness and a rope to help pull others out. A hockey stick can also help bridge the sides of a hole if you do fall in.

Ice should be about 20-22 cms thick to safely hold a person's weight. Currents, underground springs and creeks can also create dangerously thin spots on a lake.