Fell through the ice last night

[Rock Doctor]

LOL! Yeah that was a "warm" winter day, all last week was -40C (-40F) so we were looking forward to a nice day to ride, I worked the nightshift the night before 6:30 pm to 6:00 am so we got a late start around 12:30. It gets dark right now around 4:30 to 5:00.

Oh, you got that too? I tried to take one of my machines out for a little ride at -39 last week. My tire pressure dropped as the air temp in them cooled off, and as I brought it back in the shop, my seat cracked when I got out

RD

[flyer05]

Rock Doctor a cracked seat is not a bad thing. When the air temp rises and the back pressure rises it might become too much, if not for a crack.

[simpleman]

just a thought i'm an ice fisherman we drill or chop a hole in thick ice then drop a straight pole or pipe turn sideways so it's across and thats a wind anchor i'm thinking if you had a hinged pole like a t the top that sticks out you could hook too above the ice a foot you'de have an anchor anywhere on ice just an idea and it wouldn't take up alot of space

[muskwa]

I am now planning on building an "ice spike" of some sorts, want to be able to hammer it into the ice with the axe and hook winch to it

quite the scare im sure! i did come across one time an ice anchor or ice screw of some sort that rock climbers use to prevent falls. it just screws in the ice and pretty much acts like a core bit. look em up if i remember correctly their was certain ones that were about an inch across and about 10 inches long. if it can handle the momentum of a falling climber im sure it would have some use in the gear bag. anyways lets hope you never have to deal with that again

[middlewick]

Check out this video someone on the OOD fishing board.

YouTube - Argo comes out of water, back onto the ice! Amazing stuff whole ice fishing

[number1cas]

Well, Last week I decided to try and complete this ride to the falls, so off I went with a buddy in the passenger seat. To save time we were scooting down the side of the river again, this time close to the edge instead of the middle. All was going well untill about an hour in. We were just passing a small bay when we both noticed, out the left window, the snow starting to swirl. I thought "wow, that wind must be kicking up out there" That thought qiuckly changed when the ice "exploded" up into the air and we could see a huge crack heading diagonally towards us! I hollered out "which way is it heading" trying to think a way out. The speed that it was moving was no match for the Argo though,it would have overtaken us no problem if it hadn't of stopped. Once it did, we turned and had a look, seems the ice was thin and the Argo was pushing a bow wave in the ice, once that wave found a weak spot, it caused the ice to explode. It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen.

Needless to say, I decided that this river is not very safe to travel on, even in an Argo, so we headed for the power line and followed it the rest of the way. We did get to the falls just at dusk, so now I will have to go 1 more time so that I can have daylight to take some pics.

[Rock Doctor]

I've heard that's a pretty incredible sight, thankfully I've not experienced it myself. My brother described it to me though, He was working building an Ice Road, and his boss was driving a D6 Bulldozer across the river. The pressure wave smashed the ice at the ege of the river, and a crack raced straight to the D6. The Bulldozer dropped through the ice, and vanished. My brother and one other guy ran to the hole, and caught a glimps of a boot in the water. Brother grabbed the boot, low and behold, his boss was still in it. They got the guy out and dried off, he was shaken but alright. Brother got a big dinner, thank you plaque, big story in the paper, ect.
As far as I know, and it's been probably over 10yrs, they have never recovered the Bulldozer.


RD