This song was inspired by the importance of ice in the north. We spend a lot of time in the winter months (late October to early June in Yellowknife) travelling across the frozen lake: first by foot, then by snow machine and then eventually by cars and trucks. The title, Thin Ice, acknowledges the importance of knowing how thick the ice is so we know how much weight it can support, and that ice thickness is varied in different locations on the same body of water. Late April is generally when the ice conditions are getting a little bit sketchy because the thickness of the ice is diminishing. By May, we no longer drive. We move to snow machines and eventually we walk, until the time when crossing the ice isn’t very possible at all (though some brave souls traverse by pushing a canoe, giving them a vessel to leap into should the ice give way under their feet).

This song captures the mood of trepidation and wariness in navigating  potentially dangerous ice conditions, interspersed with happier musical moments that speak to the joy that this ice playground brings to our community: playing pond hockey, skiing, dog sledding, and frolicking in and around Yellowknife’s famous snow castle.