A force of nature has many Edmonton-area people shocked by the brute strength of Mother Nature, as well as reaching for the camera.
Ice shoves form when strong winds push ice across the surface of a body of water and onto land. They can be destructive, barreling down on whatever is in its path.
Paul Rousseau and several friends were spending the weekend at a cabin on Ma-Me-O Beach when they saw the phenomenon happen first-hand.
Rousseau, 25, said the group was hanging out on the beach Saturday around 7 p.m. when the wind started gusting.
“We noticed the ice started to come towards us, blowing in from the centre,” he said. “It had a serious force – it was breaking through trees, climbing over seals. It was something else.”
Rousseau said he has seen the aftermath of ice shoves before but this was his first time seeing the formations manifest themselves.
READ MORE: Ice piles up at Pigeon Lake Provincial Parks
He said the whole thing happened in less than five minutes – transforming the backyard from a lakefront property to an area surrounded by walls and chunks of ice.
Colin Tessier, who was with Rousseau, was on the lake on a floatie when the ice shoves started forming.
“All hell broke loose over there,” he said, pointing to the centre of the lake.
“It was like a little, tiny mountain starting to happen. Then it started to happen on a huge scale. We didn’t expect that at all.”
Tessier said his first thought was to get off the floatie and back to land – and capture the incident on his phone.
The 25-year-old said Saturday night was his first time witnessing the ice shoves being created.
“It was worth it. It was pretty damn cool.”
David Assaly, 24, was also with the group at Ma-Me-O Beach; the friends were staying at his family cabin.
“Once I started to see the tree getting knocked over at the neighbour’s cabin, it looked like it might go further,” he said.
“We were a little worried at one point. We were all on the beach watching it happen. It was closing in around us at one point. We’re like, ‘Maybe we should probably get off the beach now.’”
The incident was also recorded Saturday night at Alberta Beach and at Moose Lake near Bonnyville.
Mary Lou Wilkes owns a cabin at Alberta Beach.
She was at her friend’s property at Sunset Point on Saturday night when the wind picked up, and the ice began to move towards shore around 8 p.m.
“It was actually just kind of eerie,” Wilkes described. “The kids were out playing on the beach, building sandcastles that afternoon, and just to realize the force of Mother Nature within the turn of a couple of hours.”
She said the ice really started to pile up around the boat launch and bay which becomes Sunset Point, and at one point, came extremely close to a neighbour’s cabin.
“For our friends that are lakefront, it was very unnerving for them. They were just hoping it would create its own barrier and stop where it did, and thankfully, it did.”
She said one cabin had ice right up against the front window, and described the water levels in the lake this year as “high.”
with files from Jennifer Ivanov
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