Pond skimming' turns tragic for 3 Vt. snowmobilers
Lancaster, New Hampshire - April 4, 2011
The Connecticut River is a thin sheet of ice this time of year. Despite the danger, three Vermont snowmobilers tempted fate Sunday, skimming their machines across-- leaving only tracks behind.
"They made two to three passes at the most before they broke through the ice," said Lt. Douglas Gralenski of New Hampshire Fish and Game. "Hypothermia will come on instantaneously or within minutes which will paralyze you so that you basically can't swim to shore and self-rescue."
Adam DeBartolo, 28, of Perkinsville, Vt., did not make it out of the frigid waters.
"It's a life-threatening risk that people take and unfortunately a life was lost as a result of it," Gralenski said.
Grieving friends and family gathered on the bank, watching as a recovery team from New Hampshire Fish and Game searched for DeBartolo's body. They punch holes through the ice just wide enough for the divers to slip in. Although the divers are tethered to the airboat, the strong current makes this search difficult and dangerous.
"They're assuming a great deal of risk on behalf of trying to recover this body," Gralenski said.
<snip>
and yes, the assholes were drunk.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=14381748