For Clint Draper the annual Burbot Bash held at Flaming Gorge was more than just an ice fishing experience — it was a life altering near death experience. Draper escaped tragedy when he broke through the ice into the freezing lake.

Since Burbot mostly feed after dark, it is not uncommon for anglers to start their preparations for fishing at dark. For many that involves pulling heavily-laden toboggans across the ice to a favorite place on the lake. Holes are drilled and the fishing begins.

For others, there is no problem of loading up an ATV and letting the machine do the work in traversing the lake.

Draper, of West Valley, Utah, and his friend Austin Cox decided to ride their ATVs onto the lake. Draper said that they had been drilling between eight and 12 inches of ice for the fishing side of their excursion, and that is plenty of ice to support the ATVs.

“It was a dark night with no moon and the ice is also very dark,” Draper explained. “And that makes for some fun but tricky riding.”

He said they were riding across the lake when his machine entered an area between two upheavals in the ice caused by the ice shifting with the freezing conditions. Before long Draper said his ATV was riding through some standing water that had collected on top of some very thin ice. And then, all of a sudden, his front wheels broke through the thin ice and he was thrown over the handlebars.

Draper also broke through the ice when he flew off the ATV and from there it was a scary, wet and cold experience.

“I basically jumped off the sinking bike but landed feet first and broke through the ice,” Draper said. “I tried to keep my body as flat as I could while I was trying to crawl up onto the ice but I kept breaking through.”

Draper fought his way through about 15 to 20 feet of ice before he was able to stabilize himself onto a slab of ice and pull himself up and out of the water.

Austin Cox was nearby and he described the scene as very frustrating for him as he really didn’t know quite what to do. He was on his own ATV and didn’t want to get too close to have the same thing happen to him. He also wanted to be very careful about getting too close and breaking through himself and then they would both be in trouble.

In a matter of minutes Cox was able to position himself to help Draper slide out of the frigid water and to the safety of thicker ice. From there, Draper was helped onto the ATV and by chance someone turned on a truck light over on the shore that the pair were able to set their sights on to get off the ice and get help.

They were able to get Draper into a vehicle, disrobed, warmed up and stabilized. It was then that he realized that he had lost his mother’s ATV to the bottom of Flaming Gorge. The call went better than expected with his mother telling him that he was much more important than any ATV.

The family took GPS coordinates and plan on coming up in the spring to retrieve the vehicle.

“It was a scary experience for me,” Draper said. “After I got out I could have just stood there and froze to death because I was so scared.

“I’m just glad to be here and yes! We went back out fishing to complete the tournament,” he said. “I did learn that those pressure cracks in the ice can be spooky. In the end, this was a life-changing experience for me.”