A man is lucky to escape unharmed after a pipe protruding from Gull Lake launched him 30 feet off his snowmobile.
On March 11th, 2019 Blackfalds RCMP received a complaint of a hazard on Gull Lake.
The complainant reported that her son was snowmobiling on Gull Lake west of Township Road 412. At one point the snowmobile hit something hard. The driver was thrown off the machine and landed 30 feet away. The machine’s bottom part was wrecked and the track ripped off. Luckily the speeds weren’t too high and the driver walked away with no injuries.
The driver tracked back and observed a two foot long, three inch in diameter, pipe protruding out of the ice. The pipe was originally covered with snow and impossible to see. The pipe is suspected to be a boat anchor/mooring location.
The part of the pipe that was protruding out of the ice was broken off.
Further removal is necessary once the ice melts to prevent any injury or property damage to pleasure craft users. Investigators are asking anyone who uses pleasure crafts during summer time and mooring or anchoring them, to remove the anchors out of the water for the winter. The driver of the snowmobile was very lucky to walk away from the incident unharmed. This incident could have ended with serious injuries and or death.
-Submitted by the Blackfalds RCMP
