An off-road vehicle enthusiast says it’s risky business just going by thickness of the ice before venturing onto a pond or other body of water.

Rick Noseworthy, president of Avalon T’Railways, says ice thickness is only one component.

He says people often overlook that the quality of ice is just as important. For instance, a couple of nights of minus 5 will produce a layer of ice but that can change quickly.

The next day, you could get a bit of rain, then snow, then that freezes a little bit different as it becomes crusty. Noseworthy says the next thing you know, you cut a hole and it might be eight inches but you don’t have eight inches of quality ice. instead, you have ice, snow, slush, and that’s not a good quality for an ATV.

Noseworthy says he’s not a big fan of using an ATV on a pond as they do not handle well and are not made for that type of surface.