A snowmobile trail groomer fell through the ice on Lake Cascade early Saturday morning. The driver escaped uninjured, but the groomer remained nearly submerged in the icy water on Wednesday.
The driver, Joey Olano Jr., 28, of Cascade, was not injured, Valley County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Lt. Dan Smith said.
Olano became disoriented due to poor visibility caused by a ground blizzard, Valley County Grooming Coordinator Kevin Gaither said.
Olano was making his way back to the grooming shed after he could not make another pass up Gibson Creek trail with the groomer, Gaither said.
Normally, the groomer takes West Mountain Road back to the groomer shed, but the machine began to overheat, he said.
Olano steered the groomer off the road onto the snow to cool the machine.
"He didn't know where he was," Gaither said.
Olano was about 560 feet off the shore of Lake Cascade near, Campbell Creek when the ice gave way beneath the heavy machine.
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| A snowmobile trail groomer sits nearly submerged in Lake Cascade after its driver wandered out onto the ice, which collapsed under the groomer. |
Star-News Photo by Michael Wells |
Olano attempted to radio for help, but the radio shorted out, Smith said.
He left the grooming machine and walked across the lake to Cascade, where he reported the incident shortly after 2 a.m. at the Valley County Jail.
The grooming machine was still in the lake on Wednesday in about 12 feet of water with three feet of ice.
Initial recovery failed Initial recovery efforts failed when a cable attached to a semi truck snapped, Smith said. The area has been cordoned off for safety reasons, and alighted buoy has been placed at the location in case the vehicle sinks below the ice. On Monday, only the top of the cab and the blade remained visible.
County officials are contemplating how to remove the groomer from the ice, Valley County Commissioner Jerry Winkle said.
A plan to have the Idaho Air National Guard help with recovery by using a helicopter was considered but later abandoned, Winkle said.
The grooming machine may be recovered by using divers to attach air bags to float the machine. Then the machine would be placed on rails and pulled over the ice and off the lake, Winkle
said.
The machine weighs about 15,000 pounds, not counting the weight of the water inside it.
The county has ended its snowmobile-grooming program in the Cascade area, Gaither said.
The areas include Anderson and Gibson creek trails to the top of West Mountain, Warm Lake and Clear Creek.
"We are trying to make the best out of what we've got," Gaither said.
The county was planning to reduce the grooming program in the Cascade area due to increased costs from this winter's heavy snows which required more grooming, Gaither said.
Trail grooming continues on snowmobile trails in the Smiths Ferry and McCall areas.
The submerged machine is owned by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, which loans the machines out to counties for their snowmobile programs.
The county maintains the machines. The groomer, which the county has used for four years, cost about $195,000 new, Gaither said.
So far, no fuel or oil has leaked from the machine as far as authorities can tell.
This is the second time a grooming machine has fallen through the ice on Lake Cascade. A grooming machine fell through the ice on the east side of the lake in 1994, Gaither said.
