Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Nov 12/01) - Of course, icy walks wouldn't be a problem if people would get right on it every time, chase every flake with a broom, take down every fresh fall with a shovel.

But most of us have better things to do -- like shopping for salt and ice-melt, for example.

While Inuvik is not usually known for its dizzying retail selection, there are a surprising variety of products on the market for icy walks. And none of them involve shovels.

At Inuvik's Home Hardware, manager Dave Armstrong is a regular expert on getting a grip.

First, there's regular ice salt, made of the same stuff as table salt, and even made by the same people, Sifto. Ice salt will help with traction and help with the melt, but not at temperatures much colder than minus five.

Salt is cheap but it comes with side effects. For example, it can chew up cars and concrete when you're not looking. "Straight salt products will also affect vegetation since most plants don't want salt," says Armstrong. Besides, grass in these parts has a hard enough time as it is.

Thankfully, other products involve ingredients other than sodium chloride.

Armstrong carries one product by Stone Mason, called Ice Melt, made of calcium chloride. This product promises to leave the grass alone, although it will take a bigger bite out of the pocket book, at $11 for 3.6 kilograms.

"This will continue to melt down to minus 31 and it's friendly to the sidewalk and garden," Armstrong says. It might be worth a try just for the fun of watching something melt at minus 31.

Moving up in the expense category, is Ice Defense Liquid Ice Melt, a new product you're supposed to put in a garden sprayer to zap the ice with. "If you have a real problem area where your ice is built up, this will take it all away," Armstrong says. The label says it will melt up to 186 square metres, but if you have that much ice around, you might consider opening a rink.

Garden sprayer, temperature ratings, it's all starting to sound kind of complicated. Armstrong himself admits he doesn't use any of this stuff.

"I scrape the snow away," he says. "Because when you track this stuff into your house, then you have to vacuum it up all the time."

Hmmmm...good point. Someone pass me a shovel.