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Inuk guide knocked out by plywood

An Inuk guide was struck on the head and knocked unconscious by a piece of plywood caught by a gust of wind during a floe edge trip with a wilderness adventure company near Pond Inlet earlier this month.

The guide was reportedly recovering in the hospital in Iqaluit after being evacuated from the site, initially by snowmobile and qamutiik and then by helicopter.

In an explanatory letter, Black Feather owner Wendy Grater detailed extremely strong winds and open-water fractures in the sea ice of six to nine metres across. The return trip to Pond Inlet for the rest of the guides and adventurers took eight hours when it normally takes three hours, according to Grater.

The company has cancelled its next floe edge trip, which was scheduled from June 14-22, due to safety concerns, she noted.

"Black Feather is a registered tourism outfitter with the Government of Nunavut and a proud member of Nunavut Tourism. We anticipate no significant repercussions from this incident," Grater wrote.