Would you be prepared to spend the night in freezing temperatures on the side of some small lake in the middle of nowhere?
Several news reports recently serve as a reminder to outdoor enthusiasts to be safe when winter travelling, to share your travel route and carry emergency/survival gear and carry communication devices when travelling by snowmobile out on the land. Fortunately, these recent missing persons cases ended with all parties being found safe and alive due to the efforts of the RCMP, emergency services and search and rescue organizations.
Between 2000 and 2009 there were “335 non-traffic land transport injuries requiring
hospital admission and 228 (69 per cent) of those admissions were due to snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle use” states the Department Health and Social Services in its 2015 report on injuries in the Northwest Territories.
These injuries accounted for seven per cent of overall hospital injury admissions and was the fourth leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations in that 10-year period. The report states that many of these accidents are happening in winter in less than forgiving weather and temperatures.
Being prepared is the most important part of travel at any time of the year in the North but most especially in the winter months.
But those search and rescue efforts could have simply been rescues with a little extra preparation.
Back in February of last year a Yellowknife man spent a night outside before finding refuge in a cabin southeast of Yellowknife after being unable to get his tipped sled upright. He was carrying survival gear and was found unharmed.
More recently two men travelling from Wekweeti were reported missing, triggering a massive search and rescue operation. And although RCMP stated in a news release the men were not at immediate risk, temperatures that weekend had dropped to around -34 C.
Every year the RCMP remind travellers on land and frozen waterways to ensure their vehicle is in good working order, that they are aware of the area you are travelling through, they've checked the weather forecast and are carrying some form of emergency communication device or means of communicating such as a satellite phone, radio or SPOT device. The last part is especially important.
Without some means of communication, wilderness travellers will be unable to tell loved ones should their return be delayed or call for help if they need it.
Satellite phones are not cheap and SPOT devices will cost a couple hundred bucks and require and subscription fee. But what price is peace of mind compared to the $15,000 or more people will spend on a new snow machine?
Simply put, communication devices should be on every outdoor traveller's check list of items to bring.
People can do the same trip a hundred times with no problems but it only takes one small mistake or unlucky accident, such as going through thin ice or getting a stuck to turn a routine trip into an emergency.
Prepare ahead so you return safe, every time. Carry a communication device.