From cross country skiing, to snowshoeing, to ice fishing, there are plenty of things to do when Minnesota’s lakes freeze solid. But before taking part in these activities, it’s critical to be aware of ice safety guidelines.
Maplewood’s Ya Yang was ice fishing on Peltier Lake in Centerville recently. Yang enjoyed being in the frigid elements, but was also very cautious about ice safety.
“Right now it’s pretty safe,” Yang said. “I drilled a few holes. Averaged about three inches to five. It’s clear ice. It’s pretty safe. But like I say, be safe, be cautious. Don’t take the kids yet.”
The Minnesota DNR echoes what Yang says.
Said Nicole Biagi, Ice Safety Coordinator for the DNR: “Ice is never 100 percent safe.”
The DNR’s ice advice is simple – be aware of your surroundings and come prepared.
“It’ still the early season,” Biagi said. “We still have generally thin ice around the state. Some of the lakes are thick enough to get out on foot.”
The DNR recommends at least four inches of new clear ice to walk on. For snowmobiles, or a standard ATV, it’s five to seven inches and approximately seven to eight inches for a side by side ATV.
When snow melts and refreezes on top of a frozen lake, it creates white ice.
“Clear ice is different than white ice,” Biagi said. “If the snow melts out here it will form a new kind of ice known as white ice. That’s about half as strong as clear ice.”
For cars and trucks, more ice thickness is definitely required.
“If you want to take a car about nine to 12 inches,” Biagi said. “If you’re taking a truck, a larger vehicle, you want 13 to 17 inches. When you get with the large wheelhouses, that can be 30 feet long, you might need about 20 inches of ice to get out there.”
Frozen lakes can be popular spots in the winter, but they are not parking lots. According to the DNR, cars and trucks should be at least 50 feet apart and moved every two hours to prevent sinking into the lake.
Said Biagi: “If you take those rec vehicles out and they fall through the ice, not only are you risking your own life, but you’re also going to have to pay for the damages to your vehicle and pay for the costs to get that out of the ice.”
That can be a costly proposition. Vehicle owners have 48 hours to report their car or truck going through the ice and they must remove the vehicle within 30 days. The tab ranges between 5 and 10k and their vehicle is ruined.
According to Biagi, anyone going on one of Minnesota’s 10,000 frozen lakes should always use some kind of flotation device and bring ice picks.
“Ice picks will allow you to pull yourself out of the water if you do fall in,” Biagi said.
“This is pretty cheap,” said Vang, while holding up a pair of orange ice picks. “About $8.00 at any store. Must have this.”
There have already been several reports of people going through the ice this season. If the worst case scenario does happen, don’t panic.
“When you fall in you have about a minute to kind of calm your breathing, 10 minutes of meaningful movement to pull yourself out of the water,” Biagi said. “Then you have about an hour or more before you might succumb to hypothermia where you could become unconscious.”
Those going onto the ice also need to know that thickness varies on different parts of a lake. The DNR says many factors other than thickness affect ice strength, including air temperature, wind, snow, streams, narrow areas or bottlenecks, fish communities, plant decay, shade and sun.
