It only took a split second for the ice to break and the snowmachine to fall through into the creek. It took several hours to get it out of the hole it was in.
We had come to a bad place on the creek so I made a really good decision to turn around and go back. (We were roughly 20 miles from the trail head). I got the clients off the machines and had them walk back up the creek a ways. I then started turning the machines around.
The first two were no problem. On the third one, as I was turning I heard a very loud cracking sound then I heard a loud "OH SH!T" come out of my mouth accompanied with short fall and an abrupt stop. Then it got very cold and wet all around me.
As suddenly as it happened it was over and I became very calm. I pulled out the "AK Bush Knife" and used it to chip hand holds in the ice so I could crawl out.
It was supposed to be an easy day.:drool:
p.s. No I didn't build a fire to dry out or anything else. I put the clients on the remaining machines and guided them back to the trail head. I then returned to the stuck machine and worked it out of the hole then towed it back to the trail head. I went home, took a hot shower and went to bed.
Most times a calm head can stop a "survival situation" before it gets a chance to rear its ugly head.
Sorry for the lack of pictures. I was otherwise occupied.
