skating on lake ontario

Toronto man films himself floating away on the ice while skating on Lake Ontario

Toronto officials have repeatedly warned people not to skate on bodies of water due to dangerous conditions over the past few days, but some residents still haven't gotten the message. 

Local TikTok user @liammillen posted a video of himself along with several friends and family members skating on Lake Ontario earlier this week, and the clip shows the ice quite literally breaking and melting beneath their feet. 

"So we ran into a little issue out here on the harbour ice," the Toronto resident says in the TikTok. "We are now floating away from where we started. And we're floating away quite fast."

The video then zooms out to show that the patch of ice on which they're skating has detached and is actually floating away from where they first began, and it also reveals just how thin the layer of ice on top of the water really is.

Fortunately, the skaters in the video managed to avoid falling through the ice and were able to eventually hop over onto a patch that wasn't floating away, but it's clear that the situation easily could have ended very differently. 

And while these Toronto residents managed to stay dry during their dangerous escapade, not everyone is so lucky. 

According to Toronto Police, the service's marine unit received 10 calls this past weekend about people in danger on ice. 

And after two skaters had to be rescued from Toronto's Grenadier Pond on Saturday after falling in, Fire Chief Matthew Pegg pleaded with residents to stick to one of the city's many artificial rinks instead. 

"Outdoor skating is a favourite Toronto pasttime, but skating on natural and man-made bodies of water such as ponds and storm water ponds is very dangerous and is therefore prohibited in Toronto with the exception of on Grenadier Pond," he said during a press briefing Monday, adding that even Grenadier Pond is unsafe right now.

"The city has more than 50 artificial ice rinks across the city where people can get out and skate safely. As someone who has been personally involved in numerous ice and water rescues over the years, I implore you to stay off unverified natural ice and stick to the safety of our network of artificial rinks."


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