[click]

This video clip is showing snowmobiles gliding over open water as if they were boats, on Lake of the Woods in northern Minn. and Canada. At times the ice is still on the lake, (April) and the sleds just fly over it. My wifes cousin has a cabin on an island that these sleds fly right past, Here is the info. :

This video was made last April on Lake of the Woods. These are 1000 Mach Z Ski Doo snowmobiles that these guys are using. They were hitting speeds of 120 MPH on the water.
There were three helicopters filming this just for the fun of it to see if they could do it. They had wet suits on and life preservers just in case something should happen.
Also this was NOT done for any advertisement. This is very cool.

Enjoy this clip but remember 4 meg is a huge file, caution folks on dial up.

 

[67 Convertible]

Looks like a video game to me....are you sure that's real?? It really looks like video game animation.

 

[67 Convertible]

I could be wrong, just found this story on the internet. (sorry Click)

Saving his own life at 80 miles an hour
Man outruns disaster by ‘skimming’ snowmobile across partly frozen lake

Updated: 8:17 p.m. ET Feb 28, 2007
PORTLAND, Maine - A snowmobile operator who encountered open water while racing across a partially frozen lake saved himself from drowning by accelerating fast enough to glide over the waves for at least a mile. Another rider was missing and presumed dead.

Gary Huntley said he had never ridden a snowmobile over water — a dangerous practice known as "skimming" — but had heard it was possible.

So when the ice on one of Maine's largest lakes abruptly ended during a ride Saturday, Huntley and a companion made a split-second decision to accelerate onto the water.

"I just thought to myself that as long as the sled is moving and I'm sitting on it, I'll be able to breathe and live," he said. "If I end up in the water, I don't have a chance."

It's widely known that snowmobiles can stay afloat for short distances on open water. The trick, riders say, is to maintain speed so that the belt driving the snowmobile becomes something of a paddle wheel. Let off the throttle, riders say, and the snowmobile will sink.

State legislators outlawed skimming in 2003, but game wardens who investigated the incident credited the riders' instincts with saving their lives.

"At least two of them did what was under the circumstances the best thing to do. But what a terrible position to be in," said Bob Meyers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association.

Huntley, 44, of Oxford, estimated he traveled about a mile before reaching safety. Wardens said the distance was at least two miles. A companion, Jonathan Herbster of Bedford, Mass., also survived by traveling a half-mile across the water.

A third rider, Paul Blanco of Carlisle, Mass., was missing and presumed drowned. Divers found his snowmobile in 30 feet of water, but there was no sign of his body.

Earlier that day, the men rode across three other frozen lakes that had no gaps in the ice.

Huntley said he was traveling about 40 mph when he spotted open water ahead. He figured he was already on thin ice and would sink if he stopped. So he gunned the throttle, hitting the water at 80 mph.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[click]

Its definately in Lake of the Woods, cabins are familar to my wife's cousin who has one of them. Im not much into that kind of animation so I cant speak to it, but as in so much stuff today, sure looks real to me. It would be hard to get aerial video of the islands and cabins to edit in front of too. who knows

 

[novaderrik]

i know guys that skip over water all the time.. as long as you keep the throttle nailed and keep your forward momentum, you can pretty much go across water until you run out of gas.
hell, i've even heard of sanctioned oval track races in the the middle of summer out on the lakes.

 

[foreverlookin]

On a lake just north of Toronto I know of a local that likes to cheese off the weekend cottagers by running his snow machine at about 7am out over the lake and it is LOUD! When they call the cops they claim he is not breaking any laws and he even wears a helmet as you are required by law in Ontario when riding a snowmobile.

 

[68 Ragtop]

Great video, snowmobiles are f***ing cool. I like to go riding at Lake of Bays north of TO. We always wear special suits that are bouyant incase you fall through the ice. Sounds like this guy didn't have one, to bad.
Sometimes they have skimming contests in the shallow chanels between lakes that thaw first in the spring. There is a technique to it and some sleds skim better than others, but lots of them sink and have to get fished out.
As far as using snowmobiles at 7am in the summer to scare off the weekenders, why not just use a 2 stroke jet ski with a pipe? At least they float when you stop!

 

[ragtopman]

Even I have ridden a snowmobile across water. Its not as hard as it looks. Just as long as you maintain that forward momentum, no problem, but once you lose it, guess what??

When I lived in Alaska, there were drags and oval races on water with sleds.

 

[bryonf]

It's real, Up in Wisconsin and northern Ill. they race snowmobiles on water in the summer.