Man seen jumping across ice on lake near Ward’s Island

As intense gusts whipped through the city on Sunday, one man seems to have thrown both caution and good sense to the wind as he hopped across large chunks of ice on Lake Ontario near Ward’s Island.

The man was captured on video by local resident Rafael Gatto, who happened to be on the island at the time. He says the man was already out on the ice when he spotted him.

The lone man, who seems to be wearing a diving suit, can be seen cautiously but quickly moving across the disjointed ice floes.

“He crossed to the other side and then got off the lake safely,” says Gatto, adding that he saw the man walking further inland once he was back on solid ground.

The Toronto Police Marine Unit tells CityNews they did not receive a call about the incident, but are aware that people have been spotted on the ice in the past.

They say it is not illegal to go out on the ice, but it is certainly not smart. They encourage people not to take such risks for obvious reasons — the ice is far from stable and the water is dangerously cold. A rescue mission in such conditions would not only mean mobilizing resources, but also endanger responders.

CityNews meteorologist Adam Stiles says the water temperature is currently between zero to three degrees Celsius as the winds over the weekend have churned up warmer water from below. While those temperatures may be tolerable on land, they are very dangerous in the water. If someone were to fall in, hypothermia can set in within minutes.

Needless to say – don’t try this at home kids!