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Photo Sergey Pesterev, CC BY-SA 4.0

Travelling on snow and ice

Reading ice, breaking trail, and what to do when you go through.

What you need

How

  1. Sound the ice ahead of you with the pole, every few steps, close to shore and anywhere moving water runs under it.
  2. Cross one at a time and spread out. Loosen the pack straps and undo the waist belt so the pack comes off in the water.
  3. Break trail in short turns and let the man behind take over before you sweat through.
  4. If you go in, kick your legs flat behind you, get your elbows on the good ice, and haul yourself out the way you came in. Roll clear, do not stand.
  5. Get a fire and dry clothes on the go the second you are out. Wet and cold kills faster than the water did.

Watch for

Danger
  • Ice over a brook, a narrow, or a spring is thin no matter what the pond says.
  • Snow on ice is a blanket. It keeps the ice warm and weak.
  • Slush over ice soaks boots and freezes them solid.
  • Dark blue and clear is strong. Grey, milky or honeycombed is rotten.

Notes

Nobody can tell you a safe thickness from the shore. If you did not drill it or sound it yourself, treat it as unknown.

icesnowshoestrail

Updated 2026-09-05

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