Ice misadventures prompt warnings
Tourists stranded in three separate incidents
of vehicles stuck in ice over the holidays; Visitors Centre hires translator to improve communication
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Friday, January 8, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Two visitors to the city had to be rescued Christmas Eve on Yellowknife Bay after the rental car they were driving became stuck in snow and ice 10 km south of Dettah.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Jack Keefe said a call was received from a cellphone around 9:30 p.m.
At the time, temperatures hovered around -30 C and the sun had set hours before but he said shallow snow on the lake allowed the visitors to drive a significant distance.
A team of police officers travelling by snowmobile were dispatched to the site near Ruth Island where they found the SUV and the stranded travellers, who "were getting very cold when rescuers arrived," said Keefe.
The party was returned to the city approximately four hours later with no injuries.
Keefe said he could not confirm whether the rental vehicle was recovered.
When contacted by Yellowknifer, representatives of the National and Hertz car rental agencies said the vehicle did not belong to them. A representative from Budget Car and Truck rental could not be reached by press time.
In a separate incident on Dec. 28, RCMP received a call about a vehicle that had gone through the ice at the Yellowknife River Day Use area. In this incident, only the front tire broke through and passengers were able to escape unharmed. A local towing company responded and recovered the vehicle.
In a third incident, tourists followed snowmobile tracks from Vee Lake Road out onto the water and became stuck.
The Northern Frontier Visitor's Centre was open throughout the holidays, only closing for Christmas Day and New Year's Day. General manager Tracy Therrien said as a rule, staff encourage visitors who may be unfamiliar with the area to stay off the ice - especially given the unseasonably warm temperatures.
"We actually have some signs up warning people to stay off the ice unless it's a very well-travelled route and it's been authorized by (Transportation Canada)," she said. "The ice road to Dettah, for example, that's been pretty safe, but ... at this point we've recommended everybody stay off the ice because it's been too warm of a winter."
The Dettah ice road to Yellowknife opened for the season at noon on Jan. 2, two weeks later than usual.
Therrien said the centre has recently hired a full-time translator which will help with relaying these warnings to many of the tourists who do not speak English; signage at the centre is also in the process of being translated.
"We do have a full-time translator that's working for us now that's helping with our Asian visitors and translating," she explained. "We have soft road conditions posted on our doorstep, just advising we recommend you stay off the frozen lakes and ... it's being translated into a few different languages for us."
Therrien said over the holidays, the centre saw nearly 300 people per day come through its doors.
