One of the best experiences I have ever had in a kayak was paddling through the ice at the Ice Boom. It is not a trip to take lightly, in fact it took me years to be confident enough to make this trip. Like many things in paddle sports, it is a risk and reward type decision. With the proper risk management, here was the reward.

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, and as such, often freezes quicker than the others. When the prevailing wind is blowing, the ice tends to head towards the mouth of the Niagara River between Fort Erie and Buffalo and get flushed into Lake Ontario. Due to the massive amount of ice, the International Joint Committee install and ice boom across the river to block the ice from flowing down the river. The reason is, large amounts of ice can act like a dam and will cause flooding on the banks. In 2019 the boom broke and the results were massive ice “tsunamis” on the banks.

From ijc.org:

The ice boom is owned and operated by the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation and both are responsible for its installation and removal. The ice boom was constructed using timbers. It was fully converted to steel pontoons for the 1997-98 ice season. Converting to steel pontoons improved the ice boom’s buoyancy, making it more resistant to ice overtopping it, and reduced maintenance costs.

The ice boom consists of 22 spans. The first four are located between Buffalo Harbor’s inner and outer breakwater, and constructed using 16, 15-foot-long mini pontoons. The remainder of the boom is constructed using a series of steel pontoons each 30-feet-long and 30 inches in diameter.

Each span is built using up to 10 pontoons, anchored to the bottom of the lake at 400 foot intervals by 2.5 inch steel cables. When in position, the 8,800-foot ice boom stretches across the outlet of Lake Erie, just southwest of the city of Buffalo’s water intake crib.

Once the ice starts building up behind the boom, the views become spectacular, almost like an Arctic landscape. We launched at waverly beach and stayed on the south side of the boom. Crossing over the boom is very dangerous and becoming trapped is a real possibility.

After launching, you can see the ice in the distance, but it isn’t until you get close to it that you can see just hot thick the ice is. In some spots it piles over itself and creates huge ice structures. It is really remarkable to see.

In some spots you can pull your kayak right up on the ice and take a break.

From there, we paddled in and out of the iceberg and around the boom, sites like these were everywhere.

Notes:

• Do not attempt this trip unless you have advanced rescue skills. The water was only 4c. Extreme danger if you fall in the water.
• I wouldn’t have done this trip without Tom or another paddler of his skills on the water with me.
• The parking and washroom facilities all suck in the winter. You need to make it work.
• I wore a thermal base layer, a drysuit, paddling mittens and booties as well as a kayaking helmet. I was still a bit cold.

Launch spot:

———-

If you are interested in supporting Kayak Ontario, please do so by attending our kayaking lessons (clinics, classes and events). To find more information, please visit our shop by clicking here

This trip would require a minimum of level 3 or higher skills depending on the conditions.