Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 17/00) - If you think it's cold now, many Northerners have tales of deep freeze days of the past.

Sachs Harbour mayor Peter Esau recalls a day the cold almost cost him his life.

"I was bear hunting with my son and I fell through the ice on my Ski-doo," Esau said.

By the time his son arrived, Esau was exhausted and ready to give up. He says he owes his life to his son, who risked his olife that day to save his father.

"He spread his legs and arms out and crawled out on the thin ice and got a hold of my hands.

"I couldn't do nothing I was frozen stiff -- I couldn't walk."

Luckily, the camping equipment was all on the sled pulled by his son, and he was able to get his father dried out and warmed up in short order.

Esau wasn't sure of the temperature that day, but noted when it's too cold to burn gas, you know it's cold.

"When you have to heat up the ordinary naphtha gas, it's pretty cold then," he laughed.

Daniel Andre is the economic development planner for the Tsiigehtchic Charter Community. He says you know it's cold when you can "hear the frost freezing to the fur on your parka."

Andre, who was raised in the bush, said hunting and fishing in -35 or -45 degrees weather is business as usual during Tsiigehtchic winters. The key is to dress for the conditions and not go too fast on your snow machine.

"We've travelled from Tree River back to here, which is about 50 miles at about -45 -- not realizing it was -45 and getting back here and finding out how cold it was and saying, 'Holy mackerel! We were just travelling in -45 weather,'" he said.

"We were all frosted up, but it just doesn't seem that cold when you're dressed so warm and you are also travelling slowly. The wind-chill factor will really get you if you don't watch how fast you travel."

Hunting presents a challenge because the animal freezes as fast as you can butcher it.

"We've shot moose and caribou in those conditions but it's not very much fun, because your hands freeze really quickly and the skin of the animal freezes really quickly," Andre said.

Out on the hunt you should also always try to keep the fire going, Andre advised, or you'll be sorry in the morning.

"When you are living in a cabin or a tent and the fire goes out in the middle of the night, getting up and making fire in the morning is just a little too cold," he laughed.