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Being Smart and Safe: Early Ice Skating on Lakes with John Latimer and Mark Morrissey

KAXE | By Heidi Holtan,
John Latimer
Published November 23, 2021 at 11:59 AM CST

Early ice is exciting in northern Minnesota, but dangerous. Be prepared!

Let's be clear, going out on the ice, this early in the season, is risky. The DNR reminds us:

Temperature, snow cover, currents, springs and rough fish all affect the relative safety of ice. Ice is seldom the same thickness over a single body of water; it can be two feet thick in one place and one inch thick a few yards away. Check the ice at least every 150 feet.

Latimer preps for skating on 4" ice on his shallow lake with his trusty sidekick

But we know there are people who LOVE to be outside, and especially in the wintertime. Mark Morrissey is the Assistant Director of Campus Rec Outdoor Program Center at Bemidji State University. He and John Latimer talked about ice safety on the Tuesday Morning Show.

How to self-rescue on thin ice
Tags
Winter recreationBemidji State UniversityMN DNR
Heidi Holtan
Heidi Holtan is KAXE's Director of Content and Public Affairs where she manages producers and is the local host of Morning Edition from NPR. Heidi is a regional correspondent for WDSE/WRPT's Duluth Public Television’s Almanac North.
See stories by Heidi Holtan
John Latimer
As a mail carrier in rural Grand Rapids, Minn., for 35 years, John Latimer put his own stamp on a career that delivered more than letters. Indeed, while driving the hundred-mile round-trip daily route, he passed the time by observing and recording seasonal changes in nature, learning everything he could about the area’s weather, plants and animals, and becoming the go-to guy who could answer customers’ questions about what they were seeing in the environment.
See stories by John Latimer