Yellowknife snowmobilers get 'amber light' to start season

Yellowknife sled heads eager to get the season going have been given an "amber light" from the Great Slave Snowmobile Association, which tests ice on lakes within the city limits this time of year and says the majority have reached minimum safety thickness of six inches.

"Message right now is to be very cautious going out on the lakes. The trails are still rough. The snow hasn't been packed into them," says Association President Bruce Hewlko. "Some of the smaller lakes have been frozen for a while and should be reasonably safe, but there's no guarantees."

Hewlko says bigger lakes, such as Great Slave Lake, Prosperous Lake and Prelude Lake tend to freeze up later.  He encourages people to be observant and cautious.

"If you're going out on the lakes, do some checks, check the ice thickness before you go. As you go along, check the ice thickness.  When you come back, if you're on the same trail, basically follow the same route that you went out on."

Hewlko says early reports from snowmobilers in town are that this season is a bit different, in part due to a warmer fall with lots of snow recently. That heavy snow can push down the ice and cause water to push through cracks causing overflow.

"People have gone from Tibbitt Lake to Gordon lake, and what they've said is there's six to eight inches of ice on some of the lakes. What they've encountered is water levels are quite low and there's a number of rocks sticking out along the shorelines."

"We got a half a dozen e-mails this morning, probably a dozen yesterday. People asking whether the lakes are safe. We never say the lakes are safe, we say it's six inches thick."