No doubt. I wouldn't be surprised if he still had occasional nightmares about that incident. He is one lucky man to get out of that one alive.
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Tragic Accident
- Thread starter tom
- Start date
No doubt. I wouldn't be surprised if he still had occasional nightmares about that incident. He is one lucky man to get out of that one alive.
Track Addict
Bronze Member
Sad stuff. We snowmobile a bunch and have run into a few sketchy situations over the years on ice. I try to avoid as much as possible. The sleds at least have some power and water crossing skills. We were in slush and pressure ridges last week up on rangely lakes I would think could eat any snowcat.
One of the cats that went west was used only to cruise on lake winni and there are two nice restored ones that run on moose head. No thanks.
If your ever in Coleman state park Nh warming hut they lost a bombardier though the ice preparing for a snodeo. Operator got out. They have a photo book depicting the log A frame skid they made to raise it then drag off the ice with another cat. Froze and was totaled if I recall.
Shit happens and mistakes are made. You hope you get to learn from these. I feel for these guys and the family. The two who left probably won’t ever be the same either.
Cat responsibly!
One of the cats that went west was used only to cruise on lake winni and there are two nice restored ones that run on moose head. No thanks.
If your ever in Coleman state park Nh warming hut they lost a bombardier though the ice preparing for a snodeo. Operator got out. They have a photo book depicting the log A frame skid they made to raise it then drag off the ice with another cat. Froze and was totaled if I recall.
Shit happens and mistakes are made. You hope you get to learn from these. I feel for these guys and the family. The two who left probably won’t ever be the same either.
Cat responsibly!
KT3survivor
Active member
this has been on my mind aswell. cant help but wonder why they left and if the cross the ice idea played a role in that decision.
i admit i have been obsessing a bit over this whole thing, not sure why. maybe its because it is literally so close to home. it started out as a quest to know what cat he was driving because i was questioning the weight all the news outlets ran with. come to find out the man owned his own towing business called "Ol Reds". bieng a self employed tow truck driver, he must have been intelligent and i have no doubt he knew his weight. he was a few years younger than i, had a daughter and will surely be missed by lots of family, most of whom live in the grand valley. the memorial service for Ryan lee Wells is tomorrow at the delta performing arts center in delta colorado. I never did find out what cat he owned but in my strange quest to answer that, i ended up learning a bit about the man himself. it also reminded me that these machines we own and love are far less cool or important as the men and women who operate them.
stay safe out there. trust your instincts and never disregard serious advice. we all love exploring new zones but at the end of the day the best place you can ever go in your snowcat is parked safely at home.
NorthernRedneck
Well-known member
When I used to run the groomer for the snowmobile club, we had a "no ice" policy in place after a series of events when the groomer broke through. Creeks and shallow water. Creeks are especially bad. I once tested the ice at one creek crossing. It was 18" thick where I checked. I moved the auger over just a few feet and drilled again. Only 4".
Canadian eh!!!
Canadian eh!!!
PJL
Well-known member
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/snowmobile/fatalitysummary/snowcurrent.html
If you are in Wisconsin you probably know about these incidents already. What's amazing to me is the very high BAC levels.
If you are in Wisconsin you probably know about these incidents already. What's amazing to me is the very high BAC levels.
surprisingly we are down on fatalities this year.
there is 5 from this last weekend that are not on the report.
I lost an acquaintenance in my snowmobile work/world,saturday at 4:30 PM. I work closely with his wife, Mac was a true Wisconsin snowmobiler. thousand of miles per year New equipment, an upstanding member of the over the snow world.
. Not trying to sound cavalier or brash but Recreational use of motorsport is dangerous.
the Thrill is on par with the soft drugs used in and around the culture.
to have truely lived is a quote from the movie second hand lions, I hang my hat on the notion of we all need protection and guidance, I need protection from those that try to protect me from__________.... the last subject is different for every body.
Please don't take my words as a condoning one behavior over another, but the lever under my right thumb while snowmobiling is an exciting *Drug* . Wisconsin has an unusually large amount of snowmobile trails its something like 22,000 miles that are funded, there is 30% more of private trails or club trails. I have been in just about every instance in that list above including the original topic of safe ice travel. I sat bumper to bumper in 2 miles of double wide 3/4 and 1 ton pickup trucks on 10-15 inches of ice both saturday and sunday, there were wet cracks everywhere and I knew better.
the one thing that is hard to explain is the non social media side of this midwest mindset, Had a truck dropped in there would have been a rally like nonother to extract the vehicle. every truck in that bottle neck had windows open, exit strategies calculated and courteous behavior to other fishermen trying to navigate the ice road.
so to conclude the ramble, there are in excess of 200,000 snowmobiles registered in the state of WI.
I would bet 40% more operating with out tags.
FWIW, a few of the original Clowder particepants stopped to test ice on a shove in a youtube video posted here on the forum. to the folks that were there, It was in front of Rudy's house. that shove is what took out mike. He knew it was there, most likely navigated it earlier in the day on the way out. it is there every year, and changes constantly throughout the season.
Perhaps like the entire list, it was their time.
Thank you for sharing the data, there are many folks that think they are made of rubber while practicing their thrill drug of choice.
there is 5 from this last weekend that are not on the report.
I lost an acquaintenance in my snowmobile work/world,saturday at 4:30 PM. I work closely with his wife, Mac was a true Wisconsin snowmobiler. thousand of miles per year New equipment, an upstanding member of the over the snow world.
. Not trying to sound cavalier or brash but Recreational use of motorsport is dangerous.
the Thrill is on par with the soft drugs used in and around the culture.
to have truely lived is a quote from the movie second hand lions, I hang my hat on the notion of we all need protection and guidance, I need protection from those that try to protect me from__________.... the last subject is different for every body.
Please don't take my words as a condoning one behavior over another, but the lever under my right thumb while snowmobiling is an exciting *Drug* . Wisconsin has an unusually large amount of snowmobile trails its something like 22,000 miles that are funded, there is 30% more of private trails or club trails. I have been in just about every instance in that list above including the original topic of safe ice travel. I sat bumper to bumper in 2 miles of double wide 3/4 and 1 ton pickup trucks on 10-15 inches of ice both saturday and sunday, there were wet cracks everywhere and I knew better.
the one thing that is hard to explain is the non social media side of this midwest mindset, Had a truck dropped in there would have been a rally like nonother to extract the vehicle. every truck in that bottle neck had windows open, exit strategies calculated and courteous behavior to other fishermen trying to navigate the ice road.
so to conclude the ramble, there are in excess of 200,000 snowmobiles registered in the state of WI.
I would bet 40% more operating with out tags.
FWIW, a few of the original Clowder particepants stopped to test ice on a shove in a youtube video posted here on the forum. to the folks that were there, It was in front of Rudy's house. that shove is what took out mike. He knew it was there, most likely navigated it earlier in the day on the way out. it is there every year, and changes constantly throughout the season.
Perhaps like the entire list, it was their time.
Thank you for sharing the data, there are many folks that think they are made of rubber while practicing their thrill drug of choice.
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Backyardski
BackyardskiLima
Just found this on YouTube, only watched the first few minutes so far. As happy and excited as the YouTuber was at the beginning made me question if it was the same cat.
https://youtu.be/DUq5k8ooGsA
https://youtu.be/DUq5k8ooGsA
PJL
Well-known member
wow!