Altitude Diving

[altitudemike]

I recently was certified to dive at altitude in the rocky mountains of Canada in Banff national park. I am a new diver but have been to Catalina & Hawaii diving so I have some warm water experience. I fell in love with diving in the mountains. Are there a lot of cold water divers out there. Most of the people I know do not share my enthusiam. I am also new to this site. It looks great. Hope to learn a lot here.

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Welcome to the board. How was your class on altitude? I would like to take that class to dive some lake in the mountains here in AZ

 

[altitudemike]

The class was excellent. I had a great instructor. I dove Lake Minnewanka in Banff. You can google the dive sites. There is an old town & dam that were flooded by the new dam. No fish but lots to see & explore.

 

[Brand0n]

altitude diving is the same as regular diving except bit more chart work

http://www.sierradive.com/Altitude.htm has some good altitude diving info

 

[altitudemike]

2 main focus points are slower ascent & actual depth vs theoretical depth

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Cool I have heard that they are the same. Just a little nervse about the alt. I'm reading up on it just abit to make sure not to screw up. Sounds like fun...

 

[altitudemike]

I live @ 3300 ft so I am always altitude diving. Lake Minnewanka is my favorite lake to dive & it is at 5000 ft.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Welcome to the board. How was your class on altitude? I would like to take that class to dive some lake in the mountains here in AZ

[hijack]Have you visited the AZ Scuba forum. What part of Arizona are you in? We dive at Lake Pleasant on a regular basis and try to hit one of the other lakes in Arizona too. Come out to one of our dive days/weekends and we'll teach you about diving at altitude and give you a table with the adjustments. Check out the Dive Trips page on my website or the calendar in the AZ Scuba forum for our Lake Pleasant dates.[/hijack]

 

[amascuba]

I will dive just about anywhere where there is water. I'm basically a scuba junky.

The altitude correction formula I was taught is:

* Every 1000 feet is equal to 4% - For the equation I will call it AC%
* Round up to the nearest 1000 feet

AC% x Depth = PreACDepth + 1 + Depth = ACDepth

For Example:

Altitude: 4600 feet
Depth: 86 feet

Round 4600 feet up to 5000 feet. 5000 feet is equal to 20%.

.20 x 86 = 17.2 + 1 = 18.2 + 86 = 104.2 feet

Altitude Corrected Depth = 105 feet

 

[boulderjohn]

Altitude diving is an option for the Advanced Open Water certification, and you can also take it as a specialty class. Any dive operation located at altitude will be happy to give you the class.