RCMP continued to search a lake in the Yukon this week for a Morinville-area man who is missing and presumed dead after his snowmobile plunged through the ice.
Yukon RCMP reported last week that a 36-year-old man from the Morinville region was presumed drowned after his snowmobile fell through the ice on Drury Lake on Jan. 28.
Drury Lake is about 170 kilometres north of Whitehorse and 60 kilometres west of Faro in the Yukon.
Police report three men were snowmobiling on the lake just after dark on Jan. 28 when two of them and their vehicles fell through the lake’s frozen surface. One of them made it to safety, but the other, who was from the Morinville region, was seen going under the water and did not come back up.
The two others travelled to a home in Drury Creek and called police just after midnight on Jan. 29. The Yukon RCMP search and rescue co-ordinator decided to wait until later that morning to start a search effort due to the unstable ice conditions, darkness, and remoteness of this location.
RCMP, Yukon Search and Rescue, and Whitehorse fire department officials arrived at the crash site by helicopter at about 11 a.m. on Jan. 29, but did not find the missing man’s body after an aerial and in-water search. At last report, they had called in a dive team from the B.C. RCMP to continue the search.
Police have not released the missing man’s identity.
Drowning is the number 1 cause of death in Canada for snowmobilers, but that’s because most snowmobilers are out east where there are more lakes, said Chris Brookes, executive director of the Alberta Snowmobile Association.
“I’m hard-pressed to think of the last time a snowmobiler drowned in Alberta,” he said, as most lakes here are shallow and freeze deep.
Ice thickness on water bodies is very unpredictable as it depends on depth and current, Brookes said. The association recommends snowmobilers stay off frozen lakes and rivers whenever possible. If you have to go on ice, never ride alone and stick close to the shoreline or marked paths. Check the ice thickness as well: it has to be at least 12 centimetres thick to safely support a snowmobile and 38 centimetres for a truck.
Mike Waters of Riverside Honda & Ski-Doo recommends against riding at night, as you can never tell if you’ll hit a dip or barbed wire fence. If you do ride after dark, go slow and don’t outrace your headlights.
Brookes and Waters said snowmobilers should wear appropriate survival gear if they’re going out on water, such as waterproof coats that float and miniature ice picks. If you fall through the ice, drop everything you can, stay calm, roll onto the ice and pull yourself to the shore.
The Yukon RCMP advise extreme caution when travelling on or near lakes and rivers in the Yukon, as they’re not always frozen, and ask riders to avoid travelling after dark or during poor visibility. Riders should check ice thickness, stick close to shore, and never travel without winter survival gear on them (including fire-starting materials and a communications device).
