Snowshoer Safe After Falling

Through Ice On Otsego Lake

COOPERSTOWN – Michael Whaling of Sharon Springs is warning people to be careful after he fell through Otsego Lake’s ice today about 70 feet off Lake Front Park.

Whaling said he was snowshoeing when his right foot broke through the ice.  Leaning on his left foot, he was able to go into a roll and pull himself out.

He alerted village Public Works Superintendent Brian Clancy to spread the word.

In 30 years of experiencing Glimmerglass in winter, nothing like this has happened to him before, Whaling said.

On arriving home, he called a friend who lives by a lake in Maine, who told him that heavy snowfalls, like the ones experienced here in recent days, ice, no matter how thick, can sometimes crack.

Temperatures rose into the upper 20s this afternoon, but it’s been perhaps two weeks since the mercury rose above freezing.  Several nights, it’s been below zero.