Looking for Ice diving advice

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Hi ho all. I’m looking for a bit of an ‘off the chart’ ice diving excursion if anyone has any ideas... and when I mean ‘off the chart’ I basically mean I’m looking to not pay some utter p1sstake ‘millionaire decides he wants to climb everest’ Price that seems to be the norm for your companies around Greenland/Iceland at the moment.. the 5/6k for 8 dives over 4 days( no liveaboard...land based dives staying in a fishing shed at 2.5+ the cost of places like hod’s pocket etc.) but Hey! There is a dog sled excursion and a ‘rustic pub’ and a geyser so that’s why this 2k trip is going to cost you 6k etc...

Ok rant over, anyone have any ideas? Needs to be crystal blue waters, and I’m I. Canada, so no ‘lake in Canada’....looking for more of an icecap exp... I also want to be clear...I do t mind paying the 6k etc... just not for that fake tourist bandwagon profiteer crap....I’ll give a certified icediving Inuit 6k+ to to spend 6 days in her igloo or under the ice, but I’m not jumping on that ‘‘silfra’ cattlemarket cashgrab bollocks...... rant over ....-again....

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

What about the sea ice in Hokkaido? The Sea of Ohkotsk freezes every year into pancake ice, which is incredible to see.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

This is the kind of answer i’m Looking for thanks!

 

[abnfrog]

had a new student here on the weekend from way up in inuit territory.(traveled down for a special course with me ) he was saying he might want to do an ice dive up there this year maybe you 2 should talk?i know its wayyy up only a fly in destination, it would be an adventure ......

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

had a new student here on the weekend from way up in inuit territory.(traveled down for a special course with me ) he was saying he might want to do an ice dive up there this year maybe you 2 should talk?i know its wayyy up only a fly in destination, it would be an adventure ......

Was it you who offered an advanced ice diving class some time in the last year?

 

[Marie13]

Was it you who offered an advanced ice diving class some time in the last year?

Believe it was.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Our diving interests align quite a lot. I was a bit lost on what you want and what you do not want. You mentioned that you do not want to pay 6K for Greenland but you are OK to pay the same amount to Inuit? If you are up in Canada then you should do an Ice course with abnfrog first. If my ankle heals up then I may join you this winter and then we can plan further.

 

[abnfrog]

I was asking what the interest was , to see if a course could be put together .....

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

I’d be interested. I don’t mind paying money for good value...I don’t like paying extra money so that some dude I don’t know goes for free or ‘funding the lifestyle’ of others....wherever I can avoid it.

Hence why I will always try to use local dive guides etc. And I’m not interested in ‘we threw this extra crap in’ to justify the silly money we are asking for.

If someone wants to get a group together and plan and expedition etc and we all pay for it. I’m game. If everyone has to throw in an extra $1500 so some dude can schlep along for free under the title of ‘memory maker’ or ‘luxury experience crafter’.....no dice for me!

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

If you guys are talking about Sven who leads Greenland expeditions, he spent a lot of his personal funds traveling to Greenland and making connections. In the early days there was not much logistics support on the Eastern coast Greenland so there was some risk involved. Then he was able to transport a compressor or two and arrange for a boat. He does a few trips a year now and they cost money for sure but then a lot of work has happened at his end behind the scenes.

I used to be of the mindset that I don't need to pay these dive leaders anything when I can do things on my own but you have to be prepared to get a few trips wrong before you get a single one right. When it comes to these remote locations, you don't know what you 'know and you will find out what you don't know when you land there. I was communicating with late Cameron Donaldson (aka Northernone) and we were planning to ice dive Hudson bay using the Cree people up there as our base. It was a lot more "work" than we had both anticipated.

Still, if you want to be adventurous and feel like shipping a compressor and tanks to the Inupiaq elders in Alaska or Inuit in Canadian Arctic or Cree elders up in Hudson Bay then I am game too. The best would be to meet up for an Ice course / Ice Dive with Steve (abnfrog) work on our technique over the weekend and then discuss where the same thing can be replicated, with what cost.