Backhoe smashes ice aboard the M.V. Louis Cardinal ferry in N.W.T.

It's not unusual to see a backhoe on board an N.W.T. ferry late in the season, breaking ice, but it can be a strange experience for passengers.

"The ferry jolted and lurched with each smash, almost causing me to lose balance at times," says Lawrence Norbert of Tsiigehtchic, N.W.T., who shot a video on Friday of a ferry backhoe smashing ice in the Mackenzie River. 

He was aboard the M.V. Louis Cardinal on his way to go shopping in Inuvik.

"The crew is pretty familiar with me and my camera, so it wasn't a problem to be up at the captain's level taking photos," Norbert said.

The ferry plies the river every year from late May or early June to late October or into November.

Late in the season, using a backhoe to break the ice ahead of the ferry is sometimes standard operating procedure. 

When the backhoe operator got to work, Norbert started by taking photos but quickly realized that video could capture more of the action.

"As Murphy would have it, my 'low battery' warning light started flashing but I think the one-minute was long enough to truly impress people," he said.

During the winter months, ferry service is replaced by an ice crossing. This is the third winter that the ferry is continuing to operate while the ice crossing is under construction, to avoid a lengthy disruption after Inuvik began relying on trucked-in gas.

Norbert calls the experience "surreal."

"Standing on the deck of the ferry going in one direction and watching the Ski-Doos of the ice road crew going in the other... strange."