Hi,

This accident happened near where I used to live so I heard a lot of the details from the residents there.

The snowmobile trail groomer plunged through thin ice and the driver managed to escape through the roof hatch onto shore. It was a very cold night (-22*c) and the driver only had on jeans, a flannel shirt and boot liners (the groomer cab was heated). His cell phone would not function because it got wet. He managed to make it the 1.6 km to the edge of the highway but perished at that isolated location of hypothermia.

Link to local newspaper article http://www.parrysound.com/press/1171469520/

A simple "Personal Survival Kit" or waterproof communication device may have prevented this tragic event. This is one of the real life examples I use when teaching youth that a survival stiuation can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Mike

The weather here is expected to produce 15 degree cold and maybe up to 7" of snow. We still have not been rid of the ice from the ice storm. A simple short trip anywhere can be hazardous.

I can easily imagine that less that 5% of the population here has any concept of a PSK. Incidents like this should be a wake up call.

I think going through the ice in cold weather is a nightmare scenario. You've lost your transportation and your insulation in one fell swoop. The second that water hits you, the countdown starts.

The clothing you're wearing is also critical. Wool or synthetics keep a bit of insulating power, and stay somewhat flexible. Cotton turns to ice, literally.

Assuming you get out of the vehicle, and out of the water, a waterproofed duffle bag on the outside of the vehicle could be a lifesaver.

I'm not sure I could operate a lighter or a match in the advancing stages of hypothermia. The hands swell and all dexterity is lost. Something like a road flare with a big pull tab may be the only firestarter that will work.

Nasty business all around. Sadly the fellow lost his life.

"a waterproofed duffle bag on the outside of the vehicle could be a lifesaver."

I agree completely, if he had a dry bag like watershed or DUI or something of that nature that is a real dry bag and not a rollup good to 1 foot of water and had some replacement cloths,socks and shoes he would have made it providing he kept the bad near him. A watershed bag is good to 200 ft and some to 300 ft and cheaper than DUI. It's good in any water/katrina/boat cruise/ice storm environment.

http://drybags.com/home.html

While leading new recruits on a night navigation exercise a few years back, one of the troops in my section fell through the ice while crossing a frozen river. The water was not deep (she only went in up to her arm pits) but it was end Janurary in Wairwright Alberta. The temp was about -40 degrees celcious. She basically fought her way to solid ground which was no small task in snowshoes and imediately started to go down with hypothermia. When the temp is so low things can go south very quick in this type of cold. We usually have a safety vehicle roaming around between the patrols but at the time this happened I could not reach them on the radio(built by the lowest bidder) With my handy little PSK which I never am without, we managed to get a fire going fast(about fifteen minutes), and a makeshift shelter using a space blanket. We got her out of her wet clothes, which by this time she was unable to do by herself, and helped her put on whatever we had extra for clothing. At this point she had actually stopped shivering, which is not a good sign. Once in dry clothes, and with a roaring fire she soon started coming round and told me that she could feel her feet again. Normally, a fire is not an option due to the tactical side of Army stuff, but for a simple training exercise safety is the biggest concern. I was dumbfounded at how many soldiers did not have a single match on their possesion when this happened. In fact, besides my PSK, the only people that had a means to light fire were the smokers. Once the wet trooper was warmed and starting to dry, It was actually a blast sitting down and telling stories next to the fire. We kept it going long enough to semi dry her boots as best we could(no spares for these) and then headed back to the patrol base. From then on, any person in my section was made to carry a small PSK while on winter ops, whether they liked it or not.

- 40C (-40F) and the river which I assume is the Battle River given it's close proximity to CFB Wainright is not frozen solid and deep by the end of January? All the times I have been up in that cold forsaken country in the winter everything is frozen until almost late May then the mosquitoes take over

How did this soldier fight her way to land in water up her armpits and while wearing snowshoes?? In way less then 15 minutes at this temperature, her clothes would no longer be wet but frozen solid. Her clothes and boots would of needed to be cut off her...

Yes sir, the good old battle river. Right near the wet Gap armoured bridge launch site if you are familiar with that part of the trg area. I should have been a little more clear about this part. The river is only about 20 feet across at this point. where she broke through was close to the edge. Basically the sight of her splashing and cursing and yelling and acting like a monkey being attacked by bees would have been funny if not for the situation. But believe it or not she did make it the embankment all by herself. Her clothes froze instantly on the outside, but gore tex holds a lot of water, because they were still wet inside. we didn't let her sit still while we collected wood for the fire either, instead she kept moving and walking in circles to keep from seizing up to bad. I was surprised the ice broke more than anyone. Running water tends to not freeze through I guess. Whatever the reason, it broke. We didnt need to cut off her clothes or boots, but they didnt come off without a fight for sure.