Call for ice road rules follows injury
Snowmobiler breaks arm, wrecks sled after
hitting unmarked path on Yellowknife Bay
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A snowmobile club is calling for regulations on privately constructed ice roads after a snowmobiler wrecked his sled and broke his arm after hitting an unmarked trail on Yellowknife Bay.
Small spruce boughs mark a snowmobile trail that crosses a private ice road near Negus Point on Yellowknife Bay. The president of the Great Slave Snowmobile Association says there should be rules making it mandatory for private ice road builders to mark their roads. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
Bruce Hewlko, president of the Great Slave Snowmobile Association, says riders can be seriously injured or worse when encountering roads cleared on the ice, particularly when there are no signs, posts or flagging tape to warn snowmobilers they are there.
He said the injured rider was travelling across the bay near Mosher Island at around 6 p.m., March 15, when he unexpectedly encountered a road on the ice. Hewlko said the man was wearing a helmet when his machine hit an embankment alongside the road, which sent him flying 40 feet.
"He broke his arm in two places, sprained his wrist, suffered a nose bleed and totalled his snowmobile," Hewlko stated by e-mail. "He will miss six to eight weeks of work." Hewlko
The crash victim, whom Hewlko did not identify, had a friend take him to hospital.
The accident was not reported to authorities, according to Doug Gillard, manager of the city's municipal enforcement division (MED) which has responsibility for policing snowmobile traffic on Yellowknife Bay.
Hewlko said he visited the spot on Monday where he believes the crash took place.
"I took a ride out to the ice road. The road leads from the Dettah ice road to the Imperial Oil dock. It is not marked anywhere along its length," stated Hewlko.
"The road takes off just past the two road signs with orange flags. The intersection where the ice road crosses the snowmobile trail ... is very obvious. It is very inconsiderate that someone would put in an ice road across such a well traveled snowmobile trail. I did mark the crossing with a couple of spruce boughs but the whole road should be marked as this is a high traffic area."
Hewlko agreed there is presently no law requiring private ice roads be marked but he said common sense should prevail and that clearly marking one's path is simply the right thing to do. He added he has been in touch with a lawyer, a member of his association, who said he believes the builder of a private ice road is liable if anyone is hurt or killed crossing that road.
Hewlko said he may write a letter to city council asking them to enact a bylaw that would force private ice road builders inside city limits to mark their roads. He said it is not exaggerating to call it a life or death safety issue.
One private ice road crossing Yellowknife Bay from the city to the Dettah ice road was built by long-time Yellowknife businessman Mark Rocher. He operates Aurora Telecom Services and said he built the road so he can get his trucks and equipment out onto the lake without having to drive through the city.
He said it is snowmobilers who should use common sense.
"The road is access from my shop up at 603 Negus Point. There is no such thing as a hazard there because within city limits the speed limit is 30 kilometres an hour," said Rocher.
"Therefore it is not a hazard of any sort if you're doing the speed limit within the municipality," Rocher said. "If you want to be racing across the lake at 80 miles an hour, then (stuff) can happen. I don't need anybody's permission - I've got as much right on the lake as anybody else."
There are two speed limit zones for snowmobiles on Yellowknife Bay, one closer to shore - the other further out, according to Gillard.
"Zone A is 30 kilometres an hour. It goes from Jolliffe Island to Mosher Island," Gillard stated in an e-mail. "Zone B is 70 kilometres an hour. Negus Point is in Zone B."
There are several ice roads meeting the Dettah ice road on Yellowknife Bay, most of them unmarked. One southbound road, closer to Dettah, has a sign at its entrance warning people it is a private ice road and users travel on it at their own risk. It also does not have any markers alongside of it.
Rocher said he has been building this nearly 30 km long road for years to reach his cabin but it is also used by commercial fishermen and others, he said. Rocher said that road has been open for less than two weeks and is still under construction.
In March of 2003, Jason Christensen of Yellowknife was killed when his snowmobile crashed into the wall of a chute built for sled dog races at the Caribou Carnival site on Frame Lake. That crash sparked two separate lawsuits.
