Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, March 19, 2007

FORT RESOLUTION - Two snowmobilers from Fort Resolution were safely rescued Friday from Great Slave Lake, after almost two days on the ice.

The men, both in their mid-20s, were located at about 9:30 a.m. on Friday about 37 miles south of Yellowknife.

'They are in relatively good condition,' said Jack Kruger, the search and rescue co-ordinator with the RCMP's 'G' Division, on Friday morning.

The two men were spotted by a search plane, Kruger said. 'They were walking on the ice and waving at the aircraft.'

The Twin Otter from Canadian Forces 440 Squadron in Yellowknife was equipped with skis, and landed on the ice to pick up the men.

They were taken to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife to be checked out.

According to Kruger, the two men left Fort Resolution about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

They were reported missing Thursday and a search began.

Kruger said a police investigation found one of the men had had a fight with his girlfriend and both were reportedly intoxicated when they ventured off on one snowmobile for the 145 kilometre trip across Great Slave Lake to Yellowknife.

Neither manwas dressed properly for the minus 25-30 Celsius temperatures.

Kruger could barely contain his anger over the incident when interviewed by telephone Friday morning.

'This particular search was totally avoidable and there was no common sense or good judgment used by the two people,' he said.

Their actions put searchers at risk, he said, noting there were two civilians and several Canadian Rangers involved from Fort Resolution, along with the 440 Squadron plane, a C-130 Hercules from Winnipeg, and an RCMP aircraft from Yellowknife.

Aside from safety concerns, Kruger noted such searches are costly for taxpayers.

'This is at least $50,000-$60,000 that's been expended on this for absolutely no good reason,' he said.

As of Friday, Kruger did not know how far the men had walked on the ice or what happened to the snowmobile they left behind.