Swimmer is trapped under ice for an agonizing 40 seconds in terrifying brush with death as he dives between two holes in lake’s frozen surface
- Jason Clark went swimming in frozen Bear Lake, on the Utah-Idaho border
- He was trapped under the ice sheet for 40 seconds before eventually escaping
- Taking to Instagram, Jason said he thought ‘that was it’ and was ‘close to dying’
- Girlfriend Abby Mcdonald mistook the ‘severity’ for one of Jason’s pranks
This is the agonizing moment a swimmer panicked as he became trapped under ice for 40 seconds while diving between two holes in a lake’s frozen surface.
Video shows Jason Clark strip down to his shorts as he prepares to dive through a hole in the ice sheet covering Bear Lake, on the Utah-Idaho border.
Referring to a second hole several meters away, he says ‘that distance is looking longer and longer now’ as his girlfriend Abby Mcdonald agrees.
Jason psyches himself up as he makes his way tentatively towards the entry hole, before slipping in as the freezing-cold water comes up to his waist.
The swimmer takes two deep breaths and nearly puts his head under the water, before prophesying: ‘I’m afraid I’m gonna panic under the water, honestly.’
Filming, Abby says: ‘You can do it, you can do it.’
He distracts himself as his dog comes over, asking: ‘Hey Dio, you wanna come in?’
Jason Clark stripped down to his shorts as he prepared to dive through a hole in the ice sheet covering Bear Lake, on the Utah-Idaho border
He got trapped under the ice sheet for 40 seconds, and started panicking while girlfriend Abby Mcdonald – who encouraged him – continued filming
As Jason builds the nerve to swim under the ice sheet between the two surface-level holes, she adds: ‘Just do it, you got this.’
He then dives beneath the ice sheet and quickly swims close to the exit hole in 10 seconds – but surpasses it completely.
Jason flips onto his back and puts both hands against the sheet of ice before frantically swimming back to the entry hole.
Jason said he ‘couldn’t really see anymore’ and ‘had accepted that was it and I wasn’t going to make it’. Jason, who pranks ‘when there are scary moments’, said Abby ‘didn’t recognize the severity of the situation’ because she mistook it for another one of his jokes’
He posted: ‘I have never been this close to dying. I didn’t think my eyeballs would freeze so quick. I don’t know what made me turn around one last time. I was so short on breath I couldn’t really see anymore. I had accepted that was it and I wasn’t going to make it’
However, the swimmer also misses that one and searches around him for an escape route as Abby, who is audibly concerned, continues filming.
Bear Lake: The ancient 109 sq mile ‘Caribbean of the Rockies’
Bear Lake, originally called ‘Black Bear Lake’, in the Western US is split about equally between Utah and Idaho.
It has been called the ‘Caribbean of the Rockies’ due to its turquoise color, caused by the refraction of limestone deposits suspended in the water.
Over 250,000 years old, Bear Lake was home to Native Americans before Europeans – French-Canadian fur trappers – found the lake in 1819.
Bear Lake is known for its surrounding valley’s crops of raspberries and for the annual Raspberry Days festival held in Garden City to celebrate the harvest of raspberries in August.
It is now popular with tourists.
After a tense 40 seconds, Jason bursts through the entry hole as he struggles to catch his breath in the open air.
On Instagram, Jason said he ‘couldn’t really see anymore’ and ‘had accepted that was it and I wasn’t going to make it’.
Jason, who pranks ‘when there are scary moments’, said Abby ‘didn’t recognize the severity of the situation’ because she mistook it for another one of his jokes.
He posted to nearly 800 followers: ‘I have never been this close to dying. I didn’t think my eyeballs would freeze so quick.
‘The surface of the water where the hole was didn’t look any different than the bottom of the ice.
‘When I flipped around and felt solid ice I thought I was at the hole.
‘When I wasn’t that’s when I decided to head back and follow the dust I kicked up. The dust I kicked up had drifted and led me further away.
‘I then tried to break the ice with my back, you can see in the video.
‘I don’t know what made me turn around one last time. I was so short on breath I couldn’t really see anymore.
‘I had accepted that was it and I wasn’t going to make it.
‘I swung my hand at what I though was just a lighter spot of ice and my hand came through. I then got a ton of energy to stand up. It took 2-3 breaths to regain my vision after resurfacing.’