Six people fell into a frozen lake in the Lake Tahoe area - one dead from drowning

[bcla]

I never really heard much about skating in the area except in rinks. I've seen frozen lakes there, but usually they didn't seem like there would be enough ice to safely skate on it.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article258130338.html​

One person drowned after several people fell through the ice while skating at a reservoir north of Lake Tahoe, authorities said.​

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Eight people were ice skating on Stampede Reservoir when the ice broke, sending six of the eight into the water, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said in a Saturday news release.​

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The two who did not fall in were able to assist five of the remaining six out of the icy water, but the group lost contact with the final skater.​

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Emergency crews including dive teams with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada, the U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Olympic Valley Fire Department and the Truckee Fire Protection District all responded for search-and-rescue efforts and to render aid to those who had been submerged.​

Doesn't really look like the best ice conditions. I think the helicopters here are on the shore.

 

[Minnesota!]

Scary and sad

We drove a few hours south yesterday - following the Mississippi River there and back. The SHEER amount of people ice fishing, driving their trucks, ice skating, and just walking on the ice of the RIVER blew me away. Rivers, while portions freeze, are never super solid...constantly flowing, you know? And, the river has HUGE patches of open water (and a million ducks), not far from where they were parking their big trucks.

Even here in the frozen tundra, you should never fully trust the ice.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Heartbreaking

 

[kdonnel]

I'll stick to skating on ice rinks.

It is not often it is cold enough long enough for lakes in Metro Atlanta to freeze. One of those times was back in January of 2010. Two teenage boys died walking on the frozen lake in their neighborhood. There were dozens of other reports of kids falling through ice but being rescued. I guess it is very tempting to walk or skate on a frozen lake.

 

[mmouse37]

We have a huge pond in our backyard which usually freezes over. Years ago we would skate on it in the winter with the kids but for the last several years no one has skated on it. Well, the other day we see a whole hockey team out there skating. They have been there a few times already. Its landlocked by backyards with one entrance that hardly anyone knows about so we were surprised a whole team was there.

 

[NotUrsula]

We have a huge pond in our backyard which usually freezes over. Years ago we would skate on it in the winter with the kids but for the last several years no one has skated on it. Well, the other day we see a whole hockey team out there skating. They have been there a few times already. Its landlocked by backyards with one entrance that hardly anyone knows about so we were surprised a whole team was there.

Never underestimate the lust for free ice. Rink ice is normally about $250/hr, so if they can find it for free, they will, and word gets around when someone spots a good pond. (Serious figure skaters generally will not do it more than once; their blades are too expensive, and ungroomed wild ice easily destroys the edges. Hockey blades are cheap, so they will abuse the heck out of them with no regret.)

Back to the news story, there is a trend that may have contributed to this, it's called Nordic Skating, or sometimes, "singing ice." Skaters deliberately skate on thin black ice because it makes a weird noise, kind of like a Star-Wars blaster sound. It's really tricky to do with any degree of safety, but amateurs have been trying it with predictably tragic results. Here is a short film on it from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/skating-thin-black-ice-creates-sound-nordic-spd

 

[neverlandsky]

Way too warm now to be skating. Very sad. Never mess with Mother Nature, she always wins.

 

[sasywtch]

I'm quite surprised at anyone who would try to ice skate there. That area around Truckee gets cold but it's not a continuous freezing cold like up north or Alaska to allow the ice to continually harden and be thick. Today the temperature is 40F It is a nice camping area but definitely not ice skating material.

 

[barkley]

We have a huge pond in our backyard which usually freezes over. Years ago we would skate on it in the winter with the kids but for the last several years no one has skated on it. Well, the other day we see a whole hockey team out there skating. They have been there a few times already. Its landlocked by backyards with one entrance that hardly anyone knows about so we were surprised a whole team was there.

this would PETRIFY me from a liability standpoint. my insurance company has been very forthcoming about the pond on our property and how it can be perceived as an attractive nuisance b/c my state has strong liability laws that would hold me liable for injuries or deaths. i have an umbrella policy but if someone is trespassing on my property i have the responsibility to tell them to leave and if they fail to do so i have to contact law enforcement. if i have knowledge of people using it and fail to take action then my insurance would be invalid.

 

[bcla]

This was at a public reservoir though. It’s not particularly small, although I’m not sure what kind of access the Bureau of Reclamation allows in winter. I remember when there was little snow on Tioga Pass in Yosemite, and quite a few went skating on Tenaya Lake. It was eventually closed off by the National Park Service because of a lack of seasonal law enforcement in the winter.

https://www.usbr.gov/projects/index.php?id=205

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Something like 18 people got stuck on the ice in lake erie after it broke off.

Here is a video compilation of Ice break throughs for ya.

 

[bcla]

Something like 18 people got stuck on the ice in lake erie after it broke off.

Here is a video compilation of Ice break throughs for ya.

I've seen some ice driving tests done on frozen lakes, and I was thinking whoever did it had a death wish. Last year around the time of the Lake Tahoe outdoor NHL game, I heard some suggestions of maybe doing something similar ON Lake Louise in Alberta, but putting all that equipment on top of a frozen lake didn't seem like a great idea unless maybe the ice was broken and piers sunk to the base of the lake. They do have skating on the lake, but conditions are checked constantly and they close it off when it's not safe.

 

[bcla]

NM

 

[mmouse37]

this would PETRIFY me from a liability standpoint. my insurance company has been very forthcoming about the pond on our property and how it can be perceived as an attractive nuisance b/c my state has strong liability laws that would hold me liable for injuries or deaths. i have an umbrella policy but if someone is trespassing on my property i have the responsibility to tell them to leave and if they fail to do so i have to contact law enforcement. if i have knowledge of people using it and fail to take action then my insurance would be invalid.

I should have clarified that while it is in our backyard it is not on our property. It is definitely Town property. There is a chain link fence that separates the pond from our yard but we can see the pond clearly. The pond runs behind about six houses on our cul-de-sac.

 

[superme80]

I saw this. So sad.

 

[luvthatduke]

It never ends. Every winter there is tragedy.

Growing up my dad would take us to several different
lakes & ponds in our area (northeast, not anywhere near a real freeze zone).
Most times other friends w/family would meet us there.
I remember being terrified every time I was forced to put my skates
on, (sitting on tree roots or a log), and looking out over the frozen surface.
The first, frightening steps made my stomach knot up.
One time a huge lake was crystal clear, but dark.
It was beautiful but I still remember that day & I can picture it perfectly
in my mind while I write this.
I think the reason I remember it so well is because after about 10 of us
were skating for a while (yards away from the bank)
there was a HUGE cracking sound.
After the dad's did some checking they declared it safe & we stayed for a while.

Ya know, I think I'm having some kind of breakthrough writing this!

 

[prestoncaldwell]

I'm quite surprised at anyone who would try to ice skate there. That area around Truckee gets cold but it's not a continuous freezing cold like up north or Alaska to allow the ice to continually harden and be thick. Today the temperature is 40F It is a nice camping area but definitely not ice skating material.

Ive ice fished on Stampede. It does freeze enough to be safe.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

I'm quite surprised at anyone who would try to ice skate there. That area around Truckee gets cold but it's not a continuous freezing cold like up north or Alaska to allow the ice to continually harden and be thick. Today the temperature is 40F It is a nice camping area but definitely not ice skating material.

This is a tragedy, but definitely predictable for exactly this reason. It take many days of true sub zero temps to freeze 4” of ice. Not sure of the details of the reservoir, but I would never consider skating in the Tahoe / Truckee region during normal winters.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

Ive ice fished on Stampede. It does freeze enough to be safe.

I’m surprised at this. At 5200’ elevation, and winter averages of 40 degrees during the day, I wouldn’t think it freezes over very often. You learn something new every day!

I was born at S. Lake Tahoe, and spent many, many winters skiing there. Great winter conditions in the higher elevations, with more moderate temps at lake level. I only remember truly cold winters every 4th or 5th year.

 

[bcla]

I’m surprised at this. At 5200’ elevation, and winter averages of 40 degrees during the day, I wouldn’t think it freezes over very often. You learn something new every day!

I was born at S. Lake Tahoe, and spent many, many winters skiing there. Great winter conditions in the higher elevations, with more moderate temps at lake level. I only remember truly cold winters every 4th or 5th year.

I remember hiking in the area around late May and I did see patchy ice on some lakes and even snow. However, snow often takes a while to melt. Certainly refrigerated rinks should be fine, but not the lakes.

I mentioned that legendary 2011 when Tioga Pass didn't close. It's cold, but virtually no snow. I was there one summer and there was still some snow. I don't know about skating on this since it looks kind of scary. This was apparently the last day before NPS closed Tioga Road just because they couldn't police it properly, and not because of snow.