Tips for staying safe on frozen waters in the Adirondacks

Forest rangers, firefighters offer ice safety advice

By Rick Karlin

Frozen lakes, reservoirs, ponds, streams and rivers are part of any Adirondack winter landscape. People for years have traversed iced-over waterways on skates, skis, snowmobiles, snowshoes and UTV or utility vehicles. But there are dangers, especially in recent years with wide temperature swings that can bring added risks to icy treks.

A few recent examples:

• On Jan. 25, a group of skaters took off from Lake George’s Million Dollar Beach and headed north. It was in the mid-20s and the lake had frozen over, so they thought. Not long after that though, around Diamond Point, one of the skaters fell through a weak spot on the ice. Luckily, she was able to pull herself out of the water. Local sheriff’s deputies arrived and told the other skaters to lay flat until firefighters came on the scene to help get the group to safety.
• About two weeks earlier, a 37-year-old Gloversville man, Bill Gifford, wasn’t so lucky. He was riding a UTV on Great Sacandaga Lake during a fishing trip when the vehicle sunk through the ice. He didn’t survive, although his nephew made it.
• Later in January, two people on a snowmobile broke through the ice on Sacandaga although they were able to extricate themselves from the frigid waters.

Rare is the winter in which there aren’t at least a few incidents of snowmobilers, skaters or others falling through unexpectedly thin patches of ice. That’s true of the Adirondacks and in other spots around New York and the Northeast. 

“Ice is very dynamic. There can be weak spots in certain areas,” state Forest Ranger Steve Jackson said during a training session last winter. “If you’re not familiar with the body of water, it could put you in a potentially dangerous situation.”

Conditions can vary by the day and within short distances. In the Lake George accident, for example, the ice was about 3 inches thick at the Million Dollar Beach but it was 1 inch thick at Diamond Point, according to news reports.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, people should generally stay off ice that isn’t 4 inches thick. For snowmobiling, it should be 5 inches.

When rescues are required, it’s often the nearest police or municipal fire agency that responds earliest to 9-1-1 calls regarding ice rescues.

The Mayfield fire department along Sacandaga Lake, like others, does annual ice rescue drills, said former Chief Chris Mraz.

Rescuers have equipment including ropes, ice picks, flotation devices and sleds they can deploy during rescues.

Ice safety tips

Firefighters and state forest rangers shared ice safety tips for avoiding an ice accident in the first place, as well as advice for what to do if there is a mishap:

• As with any outdoor trip, plan ahead.
• Check the ice conditions before you go out on the ice. That can go beyond weather forecasts. It’s good to know where stream or river inlets are, since those spots may have thinner cover due to the movement of water.
• Once on the ice, pay attention to the color. Black, clear ice, usually forms after a long freeze which makes it safer, noted Carabetta. Milky, slushy ice probably isn’t safe.
• If you do fall through, grab on to the ice shelf and keep yourself from getting submerged. Once you have your arms on the ice, your sleeves might freeze, which can prevent you from submerging. 
• You’ll have maybe 10 minutes to, by kicking your feet and pulling yourself up,  get out before the cold water shock may overcome you, noted Carabetta. She advises taking a minute to catch your breath and bearings so you can hopefully be facing the direction from which you came. Once extricated, it’s important to get warm and dry: hypothermia can set in within an hour.
• Also, your traveling companions or rescue personnel will toss out a rope or pole to help retrieve you, if they are nearby. Solo travel on the ice is not recommended.
• Proper equipment helps. Carabetta advises carrying ice picks, which you can use to grab onto the shelf and pull yourself out in case of a submersion.
• Firefighting equipment suppliers often sell specialized ice picks, noted Mraz.
• There are other variables. Mraz noted that because Sacandaga is a reservoir, conditions can change and become more hazardous when water is being released, which can cause cracks and heaves on the ice. And the relative cold or warm temperatures overall can help determine ice thickness. “Each year is different,” Mraz said.

Photo at top: From right to left, Dan Spada, John Rosenthal, and Dave Phillips skating Lake Champlain off Fort Ticonderoga in 2023. Explorer file photo