A snowmobiling stunt gone wrong appears to have been behind the disappearance of two men into the Salmon River on Monday afternoon.
Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said one of the men who went missing was riding across the sheets of ice atop the river, located just north of Prince George, when he encountered a stretch of open water.
He decided to gun the motor and use the sled's speed to get him to the other side, a move called hydroplaning. But something went wrong — his machine may have stalled or he lost his balance — and he ended up in the water.
Two of his friends were nearby, Douglass said. One tried to grab him but missed. Then the other dove in right before the water goes back under the ice.
"The two of them went under this big piece of ice which covers the whole river for probably a hundred metres,"Douglass said. "About three minutes later they popped up on the other side and that's the last time they were seen."
Someone else tried to wade in and rescue them at that point but were unable to reach them.
None of the others were on snowmobiles, Douglass said.
They initially went under at a point just off the northwest bend on Marlin Drive and bit more than a kilometre southeast of where Highway 97 North meets the Salmon Valley Road. Prince George Search and Rescue members were called to the scene and checked the shores and ice.
A helicopter also flew over the area until nightfall while a ground search continued until midnight. It was renewed on Tuesday but without success and will continue Wednesday, RCMP said.
The names of the two have not been released but both are from Prince George and are 36 and 31 years old.
