Winter Safety Tips from Bethel Search and Rescue

by BSAR

Freeze up has come to the Kuskokwim River. This is a quiet time where people stay close to home doing little chores to get ready for winter. Many make daily trips down to the River to observe the ever changing conditions. Everyone waits patiently for the River ice to thicken up so that safe travel in our region can begin again.

Knowledgeable people sharpen their ice picks and begin testing the ice near their communities. The first ones out on the new ice are the fishers – those that want to manaq or set nets. Blackfish hunters venture out on the back trails around or behind their villages to set their taluyaqs (traps) in the countless little creeks between the tundra lakes.

It’s through these late fall/early winter subsistence activities that People observe the thickening of the ice and determine when it is safe to travel further.

Little by little trails from each community begin branching out further and further until eventually one community’s trails meet up with another’s and we all become connected again.

Once safe trails are established, local search and rescue groups head out to make sure that all remaining open water is marked in the traditional way: with rows of willows planted in the ice and BLUE reflectors.

Hopefully this all comes together and safe travel is established on our River before start of the busy holiday season.