‘Water skipping’ ban viewed as safety, environmental issue

Maine’s new ban on snowmobile “water skipping” on open water skimmed through the legislative process with little notice. But it’s been a lingering issue in Maine and other snow-belt states where snowmobile aficionados have found a dangerous variation to the winter sport.

Montana enacted emergency rules banning water skipping after the drowning of a man who tried to skim his machine across a reservoir. At least four other states have imposed bans.

Michigan requires snowmobiles to be registered as boats and subject to boating laws if they’re used on water.

In Minnesota, a man was fined $1,500 and placed on probation for a year for killing or injuring Canada geese and mallards while water skipping last February. A New York teen-ager was killed while water skipping across a river last year.

In Maine, no records are kept on water skipping incidents, “but it was getting to the point where it wasn’t unusual to hear about it,” said Maj. Tom Santaguida of the state Warden Service. A number of skimming sleds have sunk in waterways.

“Wardens have been struggling over the past year over how to deal with it,” Santaguida said.

Besides pollution that can result from sunken snowmobiles, wardens are troubled by the danger faced by unwary snowmobilers who follow the tracks of a “skimmer” made during the colder months.

Water skipping, also known as watercross, has been around for a while. The annual world championships debuted in Grantsburg, Wis., in July 1977, and campgrounds from Michigan to New York advertise the sport.