Invermere Diving

[fooks]

Does anybody know if there are any good dive sites in Windermere lake in Invermere? Is there any place that you can rent tanks in the Columbia Valley?

 

[Diver0001]

Does anybody know if there are any good dive sites in Windermere lake in Invermere? Is there any place that you can rent tanks in the Columbia Valley?

I haven't been living there for a long time (like 15 years) but there used to be a "travelling circus" that landed in Cranbrook every now and then to do some OW training in the area.

If you're looking for good dives around Invermere I would bring gear and a portable compressor from Calgary (get training on how it works) and head out to some of the higher lakes like Deer, White Swan and Moose. Bring spear guns. There are some MONSTER trout in those lakes. Likewise, in some of the tributaries you can spear nice Dollies and cut-throat in some of the little rivers with nothing more than a mask and snorkel. (be careful though and keep 1/2 eye out for black bears..... Been there, done that, I'm happy to be alive and you've been warned).

If you want to see extreme ultimate altitude diving then hook up with some of the locals in Cranbrook and get a guide out to "Summer lake". It's a crater lake in the Purcells and the visibiliy is out-of-this-world. You can throw as stone into that lake and watch it fall for over a minute. Unfortunately aside from the visibility it's really deep and there's nothing to see in the surface zone. There are 20lb trout down deep if you dive mix, though.

Hope this helps. If you're in Cranbrook go to "Cranbrook photo" on Baker street. Talk to Brian because he knows everyone who is anyone in the entire area and tell him Rob Turner says hi.

R..

 

[Lightning Fish]

Hey Rob,

Summer lake is in the Rocky Mountains. You go to Fort Steele and then up the Bull River pass the turn off to Fisher Peak. It's beautiful up there. I don't remember a crater lake in the Purcells. Any other name come to mind?

Cheers,
Bill.

 

[JFS]

Hey, be nice about the "travelling circus" They do get a lot of people interested in diving, having certified over 20,000 divers! I used to work for them.

 

[nadwidny]

Hey, be nice about the "travelling circus" They do get a lot of people interested in diving, having certified over 20,000 divers! I used to work for them.

And of those 20,000 divers that they allegedly certified, how many are still diving?

Assuming we're talking about the same traveling circus that I remember, I can't see any reason for anyone to be nice when talking about that 2 bit operation. If you worked for them, my condolences. It's nothing to be proud of.

 

[Diver0001]

Damn. Bill is right. You'd think I would remember this stuff better....

And Brian, be nice. It was a long time ago now and if you ask me attention to detail in the training wasn't very good across the board back then....

R..

 

[nadwidny]

Damn. Bill is right. You'd think I would remember this stuff better....

So is the lake you're thinking of Summer Lake or is it something else? I'm heading down to Kootenay Lake sometime next year to do some stuff with the BC Underwater Archaeology people and if the timing is right and since I'm going right by it, I wouldn't mind checking out Summer Lake if it has viz that good.

And Brian, be nice. It was a long time ago now and if you ask me attention to detail in the training wasn't very good across the board back then....

Oh I know but the guys I'm thinking of were the worst of the worst. Can't remember their name...Blue something maybe. Last I heard of them they left a legacy of unpaid bills across Western Canada.

 

[Diver0001]

Yeah Summer Lake. Bill's description of where it is will put you pretty close. I haven't been there for a long time but when I lived there you needed a 4-by-4 to make it all the way to the lake.

R..

 

[Lightning Fish]

You may or may not need a 4x4 to get in. Depends on how the roads hold up over the winter/spring. I was last up there in '93, can't remember if we used a car or 4x4. If I remember correctly, it is a bit of a drive on the back roads and you'll need good directions, mostly for getting the right turn offs.

The lake is located in a bowl, mostly surrounded by two or three peaks and a ridge. Viz would probably be bad during the spring run off.

Another place I always thought would be fun to dive is Quartz Lake up past Premier Lake.

Cheers,
Bill.

 

[MarkH]

Oh I know but the guys I'm thinking of were the worst of the worst. Can't remember their name...Blue something maybe. Last I heard of them they left a legacy of unpaid bills across Western Canada.

Blue Water Diving. I'm a product of them. Don't worry, for liability reasons I usually dive by myself.