Ice Diver. What is THAT all about?

[rhwestfall]

... we have 7 divers already booked for next year..

Then how are we supposed to have an "alumni gathering"? I think we need to invade..... I'll volunteer as a support diver, and even set up in the garage (oh, and tend the fire)....

 

[lowviz]

You got me thinking, pal. It would be totally unfair to Steve and Roxanne to just "drop in". However, Steve's policy is that his students can sit in on his classes for free.

I know this affordable lodge that is only 10 min away that can easily accommodate anything from a couple of divers up to a full-scale invasion. We are good to dive under our own direction (unless we are holding poser passes, which we aren't).

Ladies welcome, preferably two or more. Private accommodations and Marg Adams would love your company. No training available. You either hold an ice card or you are a bubble watcher.

Just throwing this out for consideration and discussion...

 

[abnfrog]

you guys are both more than welcome to attend no charge , but new students get the shot at free lodging first ........steve

 

[TMHeimer]

I've never seen anyone ice diving except on videos. I can see that it's attractive to quite a few people. Just like some want to cave dive and others penetrate a wreck. To me, ice diving is like the 21 minute dive (wet) I did today in +1C (34F) ocean water here in Nova Scotia, but without all the work of cutting through ice.

 

[lowviz]

...//... To me, ice diving is like the 21 minute dive (wet) I did today in +1C (34F) ocean water here in Nova Scotia, but without all the work of cutting through ice.

Yes and no, Tom. If you go by temps alone, then I would agree that it is exactly the same. Once you leave the overhead ice then it is just a cold dive.

Ice diving is all about ice (above and below) and there are so many variations to it. I've yet to dive under crystal clear ice or in endless visibility where I can get some depth to enjoy the view above, that would be Tobermory after a hard winter and just after the ice breaks. There is a pic somewhere of a diver doing just that. Stunning.

 

[Lex86]

Arturo & Harry are great guys. Fun to be around and very good divers. I too imaging the day of crossing their paths again on some dive somewhere. Their only shortcoming appears to be their not having completed their "Fire Building and Maintenance" specialty.... I will say that Arturo did seem eager to learn (a cold cabin at 3:00 am can be quite an incentive).

Hey rhwestfall,

Totally! I have not graduated from my Fire Building and Maintenance Specialty, I am getting Better, However i was forbidden to play with fire so Arturo got most of it, however the Fire Seal broke on us after you guys left so what the heck i played with the fire again.....

Did a so so Job, clearly i have time to master this art, however my peer Arturo needs a crash course in How to use Wooden logs effective as we were burning through them faster then Steve could Seperate.

I will Keep at it , and someday ill be good

 

[Lex86]

You were taught by the very best. Sorry our paths didn't cross this year.

We all had a long discussion about this course, the burden is all on the instructor when done correctly. Don't tell anybody, but Steve will do it again next year (and he might even be booked as of now). After that, he is planning to take a break before the next go-round.

@Marie13, just do it. Get your AOW ASAP.

@Schwaeble (877) 490-9969 I wasn't getting anywhere, flight alone was over $1300 US. Called to complain, no need. Travelocity dude took over. Ended up with flight, car, and lodging (room and board) for a bit less than that.

@rhwestfall Yes. Rumor has it that you have a diveable stream running by you. Sounds like another adventure...

Oh, Arturo is now the firemaster! That dude can split wood. The two of them are hysterical. I think that those guys are both from Toronto, they must know each other well.

Totally Arturo and Myself know each other real well, we met up during a drift dive in Brockville last Year, was really funny,

We were the only guys who brought tents, and the last ones to arrive at the camp site, no fun doing two tents at 10pm in the pouring rain... Of course by the Time We Finish, the Rain stops too, go figure on that one.

 

[abnfrog]

again glad you guys had a blast .......next will be even better as this was our first year up here .......I also just bought a "cottage bbq" its already been named "THE MIKE NELSON MEMORIAL GRILL " that should get jeff talking ....lol

 

[Lex86]

I’ll attempt to give my unbiased opinions and observations of what sport ice diving is all about. In another thread, Ice Diving - Tips? you can read Team 1’s report. This post is Team 2’s report and it is written to add to Bob’s information. So, please take the time to read what @rhwestfall wrote before continuing here.

Be advised that this will be a bit long, I like to write…

Ice diving. I’ve taken various dive courses from a grand total of nine instructors across many agencies. @abnfrog is my 9th instructor. Instructors are all different, very different. My experience with them ranges from one I would like to forget to a course that I didn’t pass in Florida and would dearly like to go back and scratch that itch, to several others that I would love to repeat. I suggest to the neonate diver that you resist the urge to continue with your OW instructor just because you think that you had a good experience and you just happened upon the best instructor in the world. Realize that this is a very hard thing to say being someone who had the most incredible fortune to have Tim O’Leary as his OW instructor. I don’t give a hoot about agencies, but I do try to do my homework when it comes to the instructor. I’m a solo diver, but not under the ice. No solo under the ice, ice diving is “safe” but ONLY when done correctly. There must be a solid connection between you and your tender. My tender was Arturo. He dove a wetsuit and logged the longest dive of Team 2. He is the coolest badass little Canadian Peruvian that I’ve ever met. Yes, I can use his name, I have permission. Major cojones. He is a DM on his way to becoming an instructor. So was Harry, both of them will make superior instructors someday. I will be able to say that I knew them back when... Sorry, getting ahead of the story.

You only need an AOW card to sign up for ice diving. That should tell you something about how safely it can be done. Ice diving is a real, no joke, technical course. You are in an overhead environment that is not to be taken lightly. I’ve previously been under the ice in a grueling PSD course that requires five people just to get onto the ice (at any thickness) to conduct a rescue/recovery op. Ice poisoned me. I was really, really jonesing to get back under solid ice just for fun.

In another thread, Bob had found a course in Canada. It was full. *disappointed* I voiced my disappointment. I get a PM from the instructor. Call me at xxx. Ok. I start asking him questions, he does the same to me. I get a spot in a class Tue-Wed after Bob’s weekend class. Sweet!

Shocked at the cost of last minute travel! I keep at it, this just has to work. A Travelocity dude spent well over an hour and came up with me flying to Sudbury and then driving the two and a half hours though WILDERNESS to Temagami. Lodging? I tell the agent that he instructor provides that. Nope. Best price includes lodging in Northern Paradise Lodge and a rental car. Just do it. I did.

The lodge was a trip. Serious breakfast and dinner. Pies. Yum!!! White rhubarb, mixed berry, apple, strawberry, on and on… Meals are “family style”. I had the most amazing conversations with fur trappers, hunters, and ice fishermen. A couple of them were divers and I got beat up pretty badly. You came up here to be stuffed through a hole in the ice when you could have gone just as far south to dive in bathwater, eh?

I came up a day early, Steve’s suggestion. I get oriented and do some easy prep. Bob (thanks bud) suggested that I not drive. So flying limited my gear. I used Steve’s BC, tanks, and weightbelt.


First day:

No diving, all interactive lectures. Steve’s ex special forces persona comes out bigtime. Clear, concise, organized. Mission: You will be able to conduct a safe ice dive without me present if you pass. Wow. So this isn’t a dunk, see the ice, and repeat course. Steve was also training his DM’s so Team 2 consisted of two students and two ice certified DM’s. Pretty decent ratio. Steve keeps it light and we had fun busting on each other. But be advised that Steve can (and did) come down hard on each and every one of us for anything that was potentially unsafe. No discussing it. You just don’t do that **** or you are out of the course. Covered everything in detail. Remember, the objective is to be able to do this on your own and safely.


Dive day:

We suit up. I can’t get into my DS due to an added undergarment. Steve is pissed. I told you to check everything yesterday! Damn, one simple addition bites me. So I punt and dive with just my Aclima undies. I was fine. Gloves are a big deal. The Canadian military diver was miserable in his 7 mil gloves. I almost never do product endorsements, but my cheap 5mil XS “Dry Five” gloves kept me warm.


Team 1 cut the initial hole, it was frozen solid for Team 2 but still an easier cut. That manual Ice saw was amazing. Beat the hell out of a chainsaw. We discussed this at the lodge. Laughter and more abuse. Suggestion was to grind all the rakers off the chain and use vegetable oil instead of bar oil. You know you got it right when it looks like a fire hose blowing water all over you.


Line tending really sucks in freezing wind. Temps were below -20C at night and just really cold during the day. Constantly grooming the hole to keep it clear. Fine granular snow blows into the hole and initiates freezing. Constant grooming until we get divers in the water. Edges of the hole were rounding over, sure sign of subfreezing conditions.


Diving: Safe, warm, and fun. Go do whatever, it is your dive. Not a tender directed dive that I was expecting. So different from PSD ice, tender directs your every move on that one. This is just fun. I headed toward Steve’s dock, really interesting to drift above the silt (under the ice) and still be able to watch the little crayfish. Deep (for me) has nothing at all to do with ice diving.


I began to fully grasp the connection between tender and diver. Communicate by line pulls, coded by the number of pulls. I could feel Arturo stop and adjust gear when it was my turn to line tend for him. Line tending is an art, I’m getting it.


I could go on and on, but it is time to cut it off and post this. But not before major thanks to Roxanne. Spectacular! Oh, and Team 1 ate up all the chili! Thanks guys. No worries, Team 2 got her amazing spaghetti sauce (wow) and honest hospitality. How did you get so lucky, Steve?


One last observation. Ice diving is brutal on the instructor. There is much prep that has to be done before you can stuff a student under the ice. Steve takes it to the next level. You (student) WILL be able to do this yourself without an instructor present if you pass.


I passed. What an adventure!

View attachment 401436
DM's on left, students on right.

View attachment 401437
82nd Airborne Duck watching over me and Arturo line tending. I'm good.


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Success!

Hello LowViz,

Was a pleasure having you up here during the Ice Diver Course, We sure had a blast!

I totally agree with your honest review of the Dive, the badass of the group was certainly Arturo.

I gotta bring my A-Game next year, the plan;; This time pack my speedo's to go in the ice hole and come back with Silt

I am glad we did bring out the Duck for Team 1, somehow he got lost in the shuffle for Team 2.



Sorry Team 1

 

[Lex86]

great write up lowviz..was a pleasure having you .......thank you for your kind words , yes we have 7 divers already booked for next year......aurturo and harry will make great instructors next summer is their idc with me up here ...............steve

Count me in for that Ice Dive, Basically count me in for any and all Ice dives from here to Infinity, hopefully one day i'd love to teach the Ice Diving Course Myself at the beautiful Temagami Location, I am sure Arturo and our other DM Dave agree as well that they will love to teach it.