Diving in high mountain lakes??

[Dive-aholic]

Your main issue will be the water temperature. It's been mentioned the water there is 42 degrees. That's cold! I was in 45 degree water...once...and nearly froze. And I was in a dry suit. Anything under 68 degrees is cold to me, though.

I believe Castle Lake is a fairly shallow lake. At 2500' the effects of the altitude are minimal in shallow depths. As long as you remain conservative, there shouldn't be much of an issue. However, if the lake is at 7000' as has been stated, then it becomes more problematic.

I suggest you google altitude diving. There are a few articles out there that go into some detail on it. You should also be able to find a conversion table online for depths at altitude. More than half of my diving before I moved to Florida was altitude diving. There really isn't much to it.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

As stated above anything over 100' should be treated as an altitude dive when using a US Navy derived table. Diving at 2500 ft with nor corrections would cut into the already minimal fudge factors in a US Navy table -at least as they relate to a population other than 23 year old male navy divers with limited amounts of body fat. The altitude corrections at 2500' are small but potentially significant. Add to that the fact that the water is almost certainly quite cold - making it a cold water dive - and you have very little margin left.

Altitude diving is also not hard and the depth correction table and procedures for doing high altitude dives with tables have been printed in several manuals over the years.

Buhlman tables are also available that are designed for high altitude diving as are most dive computers - read the instructions in your computer manual and you should be good to go.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

If it's worth doing it's worth doing well. Sounds like a great dive making it worth any time required to get trained to dive at altitude. It's not rocket science but it's important to your well-being. The altitude dive training I received was more like an extended dive briefing than a full blown class. You're probably not going to spend a whole weekend learning the theory in most cases. You're a new diver and you need to face the fact that "you don't know what you don't know", there's a LOT of information about diving you're not going to get in an open water class. With a little preparation and classroom time that dive should be do-able for you in the time frame you are planning. I'm going to second the recommendation for a drysuit, it's not necessary if you have a wetsuit or semi-dry suit that fits well BUT you'll be MUCH more comfortable dry which will increase the enjoyment of the dive.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Scott]

Here is the conversion for 2500'

10 11
20 22
30 33
40 45
50 56
60 67
70 78
80 89
90 100
100 111
110 122
120 134
130 145

 

[RonFrank]

well its high to me What else would you call it? Its at the base of a volcano. I have already looked into what is allowed at the lake and the only restriction I can find concerns motorized boats, which are prohibited.

Sorry, I live at close to 9000', and my lowest diving within driving distance is still 4200+, so IMO, 2500' is not all that high.

In any event, there are tables in the back of the OW book that you can use to add some conservatism. My thought however is that you don't have to do much, and in fact, your computer may already do it for you.

Good Luck,
Ron

 

[JeffG]

LOL

All you people telling him to get Cert XYZ....he's not even got his open water yet. LOL

His OW instructor should go over this when they do the checkout dives. I know mine did...4000ft Lac Beavert, Jasper, Alberta.

On the other hand, there are some of us that pretty much just ignore the issue.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

LOL

All you people telling him to get Cert XYZ....he's not even got his open water yet. LOL

Which is why we tell him there's a certification available.

His OW instructor should go over this when they do the checkout dives. I know mine did...4000ft Lac Beavert, Jasper, Alberta.

Not all OW classes cover altitude diving, mine didn't, neither did my AOW or my Master Diver or my Dive Master or my Instructor for that matter. I had to take a class to learn how to do it when I went to Utah since it's a bit of a specialty, especially here in Ohio.

On the other hand, there are some of us that pretty much just ignore the issue.

I'd like to avoid telling a student diver to ignore the need to exercise good diving practices, it sets a bad example.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[JeffG]

Not all OW classes cover altitude diving, mine didn't, neither did my AOW or my Master Diver or my Dive Master or my Instructor for that matter. I had to take a class to learn how to do it when I went to Utah since it's a bit of a specialty, especially here in Ohio.

If a students OW dives are being done at altitude, then the instructor should cover it.

 

[BlueC5Kitten]

Not all OW classes cover altitude diving, mine didn't, neither did my AOW or my Master Diver or my Dive Master or my Instructor for that matter. I had to take a class to learn how to do it when I went to Utah since it's a bit of a specialty, especially here in Ohio.
Ber :lilbunny:

My instructor for OW covered altitude diving in class (and I had read up on it some more because I would love to dive Lake Tahoe one day!), but when we completed our check-out dives, no one thought to tell us that we were diving at 3300' of elevation. Granted, our checkout dive depth was about 26' max, obviously NDL, but probably should have mentioned it, right? He did set us all up with a dive computer though...so perhaps that was the justification???

I only think about it now again since I am going back out to the same spring to work on some skills...take in the sights and enjoy a long weekend!

BTW, I like your lil'bunny Ber!

 

[Ber Rabbit]

If a students OW dives are being done at altitude, then the instructor should cover it.

Right, they should. Show me where the OP mentioned he would be certifying at altitude, his goal is to dive the lake sometime in the future. There's no guarantee the OP's instructor will cover altitude diving, heck there's no guarantee the OP's instructor knows how to dive at altitude himself.

If training dives are done at altitude then altitude procedures should be followed to help students establish good dive planning habits if nothing else.
Ber :lilbunny: