How thick is it safe to walk on ice?
What if you get stuck on a frozen lake?
As the cold snap continues and the more daring walk, slide and skate on frozen water bodies in France and neighboring countries, Alain Michon, polar explorer, answered our questions.
Check color and thickness
First step, before improvising as a skater on the first pond: check the thickness of the ice.
"You can walk on it from 10 cm", assures Alain Michon before adding: "Often, we have rather 3, 4, 5 cm, so it is still taking a risk to go there".
If you don't have an ice saw or chainsaw handy, the easiest way to check for strength is to throw a stone: it will bounce back if it is "live ice" and therefore passable.
Observing the color of the ice can also give indications as to its strength.
"If it's a fairly intense blue", that's a good sign, says the explorer specialist in ice diving.
The more it draws towards the gray, the less it is thick.
The texture of the ice or snow is also a carrier of clues, but here, "you have to get used to it to be able to venture there".
If, however, the ice should crack underfoot, the first step is to "keep calm", insists Alban Michon.
Then, the technique consists in distributing its weight on the ice, so that it is not concentrated on the same point, a little on the principle of rackets.
Concretely, you lie down and crawl "delicately, gently, using your forearms, legs and knees, to extricate yourself and reach the nearest shore".
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In the event of a fall in the water, grabbing onto the edge of the ice and pedaling "very hard" with your feet can help you get out of the water.
If you start to get dragged to the bottom, "let's not hesitate to take off your shoes and clothes […] it can save your life", recalls the polar explorer.
In spite of the precautions, going to venture on the ice, "it is to take a risk", "except in very particular cases where town halls have prepared land, tested, have probed the thickness of the ice", explains Alban Michon.
“Me, I'm in Tignes, that's what's happening.
We have a lake that is frozen and the town hall regularly surveys the lake and stakes out saying 'you can walk in such and such a place', ”he concludes.
