‘We are an organization that preaches safety, and especially at this time of year, we never want to see tragic things happen, but we certainly don’t want to see them happen just before Christmas’

Shawn Flindall is pleased with the way Mother Nature is cooperating early on this winter. 

Flindall, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the North Bay Snowmobile Club, says they still need the temperature to drop. 

“We need cold weather to freeze everything up before the snow, and we’ve certainly gotten that,” he said.  

“We have seen some -20s, -25s, and that’s been really positive to get things started on the freezing side. And there’s not a whole lot of snow.” 

However, he’s frustrated that the cold weather has created a false sense of snowmobiling hope for some in early December. 

One man is dead and another injured following a harrowing rescue operation Monday afternoon when two snowmobilers fell into icy waters at Bay Lake in Latchford.

See related: Rescue effort saves one, but second snowmobiler dies on Latchford Lake

Temiskaming OPP, along with the North East Region Emergency Response Team, responded to a call involving three snowmobilers travelling on Bay Lake. Two of the snowmobilers broke through the ice and became trapped in the freezing water.

“We are an organization that preaches safety, and especially at this time of year, we never want to see tragic things happen, but we certainly don’t want to see them happen just before Christmas,” he said. 

“This time of year is always tricky because people are excited to see the snow. They’re excited to see the lakes start to freeze over. But when bad decisions are made, unfortunately, sometimes they lead to tragic results, and unfortunately, that was the case in Latchford this week.” 

Flindall is hoping for a continuation of cold nights to allow surfaces to firm up, so when the snow does arrive, they can get a good start to the snowmobile season in the North Bay area.Â