Massive Ice Sheet Hits Thrill-Seeking Minnesota Woman On Head

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Dozens of cliches and puns come to mind here, none of them very nice. Let’s just say a 20-year-old Minnesota woman was cold-clocked in an incident in Minneapolis Sunday that resulted in multiple trespassing charges and police warnings, and a huge round-up of people who were where they shouldn’t have been. A brawl? Not at all

The woman, who wasn’t named, was hit on the head by a massive sheet of falling ice at Minnehaha Falls around 3:30 p.m., according to media reports. The falls are a spectacular sight when frozen, and the victim was among several thrill seekers who have tested the boundaries of safety to make the dangerous climb behind the frozen wall to get a better look, Minneapolis Park and Recreation officials say.

A fence was put in place in place to stop the curious, but the problem has worsened in the era of social media selfies, park officials say. Last year, at least two others were injured by falling ice while walking behind the falls, but park officials think most injuries go unreported because the area is officially off limits.

Robin Smothers, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that people who ignore the warning put not only their own lives in danger, but also those of emergency responders.

“People can get hurt, and not just them but first responders, too,” she said. “They don’t have ice cleats. It is dangerous.”

Here’s what happened Sunday, according to a video Judy Babcock posted on her Facebook page:

The falling ice resulted in non-life-threatening injuries to the woman, who was taken to a local hospital for treatment, Smothers told WCCO-TV. According to ABC News, the woman’s wrist and hand were injured. A video of the incident was also broadcast by CNN and multiple other media organizations.

Throughout the weekend, park police warned some 135 people who wandering behind the Minnehaha Falls to move on, KSTP-TV reported. At least seven were ticketed for trespassing.

Smothers, the Minneapolis park service official, said the woman wasn’t ticketed. She also won’t be billed by the Park Police or Minneapolis Fire Department because those services are covered by tax dollars, the Star Tribune reported.

On its Facebook page, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board posted that the only safe — and, by the way, legal — place to view the falls is from the footbridge overlooking them near the Pavilion/Sea Salt restaurant.

Here are some tweets showing the beauty of the frozen Minnehaha Falls:

Of course, on ubiquitous social media, there’s always room for a joke:

Photo of safe observation of Minnehaha Falls via Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board