MENASHA — One of two snowmobilers attempting to skim their machines across open water near Jefferson Park went through the ice on Lake Winnebago about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.
Neenah Menasha Fire Rescue personnel using an ice rescue boat pulled Jeremy Remter, 24, of Appleton, from the water about 20 minutes after he went in.
Remter was taken by ambulance to Appleton’s St. Elizabeth Hospital for treatment of injuries that authorities said were not life-threatening.
Christina Turner, who was visiting relatives on Lake Road in Menasha at the time, said the snowmobilers had been riding near open water when she saw one man go into the water.
“They were going back and forth right at the end of the ice and water. There was water spraying up from behind their snowmobiles,” Turner said.
Turner and numerous other witnesses along the northwest corner of the lake notified authorities with concerns, even before Remter’s snowmobile crashed through the ice, said Winnebago County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Gruss.
“We received calls that earlier in the evening two snowmobile operators were trying to skim their snowmobiles across open water. We were headed up that way to check on their welfare when dispatch said one was submerged under the ice,” Gruss said.
Remter and the other snowmobile operator, Luke Van Zeeland, 22, of Kimberly, had been riding their snowmobiles about a quarter-mile off shore near Buoy 100.
Two Appleton men died in January when their snowmobile entered open water near Buoy 100, which is south of Jefferson Park.
Turner said the second snowmobiler circled around Remter briefly as he hung onto the ice before heading about a mile back to Waverly Beach, where they had started their ride, according to the sheriff’s department.
Gruss said the lake ice has deteriorated because of recent warm weather and is no longer safe for travel.
