Ice diving course?

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Another option may be to contact your local dive recovery unit (Law Enforcement, Fire Department, or SAR team) and see if they can assist you in finding a good instructor in your area. We would help local divers at my old unit in Wyoming. Back when I had hair :) This ice dive occurred at Granite Reservoir in the mid 80s. Ice was 19” thick, water temp was 38 degrees, and the elevation was a bit over 7k. Don’t see many folks doing ice dives in a wetsuit these days.
 
no surface support crew? no safety diver? no warming huts? running your own line and assuming youll find your way out?

Only said we didn't have harness with a tender... and no saftey divers....
Usually there was someone on the surface... (not alot they can do if your underwater)

AND WE DON'T ASSUME ANYTHING
That's rule number two....

Funny
If I said we did this in the 80s..
Everyone would be ok with it..

Temperature....
well I here some caves are pretty cold. Like in Russia.....

Yes take a course everyone!!!!
Get little card...
but....
If you don't know what you are doing,
Make sure you are with someone that does and can help you....
 
Only said we didn't have harness with a tender... and no saftey divers....
Usually there was someone on the surface... (not alot they can do if your underwater)

AND WE DON'T ASSUME ANYTHING
That's rule number two....

Funny
If I said we did this in the 80s..
Everyone would be ok with it..

Temperature....
well I here some caves are pretty cold. Like in Russia.....

Yes take a course everyone!!!!
Get little card...
but....
If you don't know what you are doing,
Make sure you are with someone that does and can help you....

Well, there isnt a lot a surface crew can do.....when you dont have a line tender and harness....or a safety diver.......hence, the harness....and safety divers.

however surface crews are also responsible for tending the ice, maintaining warming huts, preparing hot water, notifying EMS...

and you literally assumed because you "knew the dive site"....that you would be able to find your way back to the ice hole if you lost your line.

were you taking into account mental impairment from hypothermia?....what about a lost mask?....what about when everything goes to hell because your regs froze?.....theres a lot of issues that can arise that tend to snowball.

and, just because there are SOME cold caves in russia, doesnt mean that most cave divers are trained for cold water.....at best, cave diving is a distant cousin of ice diving.....and just because im ice certified, doesnt mean ide go wandering into a cave without training.....each have their own unique challenges.

also, just because something was acceptable in the 80s doesnt mean its safe.....hell, people regularly dove to 200+ feet on air in the 80s....pretty sure no one would recommend that now.

but like i said, you do you...

PS. people take ice classes for the training and knowledge.....not a "little card"......Ice training isnt like PADI boat diver.
 
Yes take a course everyone!!!!
Get little card...
but....
If you don't know what you are doing,
Make sure you are with someone that does and can help you....
I'm calling 'Troll' or stupid.

I can see how thick the ice is and people are standing upright on it? Footprints don't lie.

rol diy.jpg

BTW, nice hole you dug. The stress reliefs are a thing of beauty in that thin ice...
 
That white layer is just where the air is trapped in the top layer of the ice. The ice could be several inches or feet in thickness. Some folks push the block under the hole while others remove it. I don't see it in the pic so it's hard to tell how thick that ice is.
 
I'm in Michigan and looking to extend my diving season a bit. Ice diving looks like an interesting option, but I'm having a hard time finding a shop with either ice diving charters or classes on their calendar. I'm also concerned about doing a class like this with some random instructor.

My OW cert is through PADI, but all my specialties (and AOW) are through SDI and I tend to prefer the more rigorous SDI coursework. I have a bit of overhead experience (Bonne Terre mine) but nothing compared to what I'd expect with ice.

Any suggestions on how I might pursue this?

Not sure where you are in Michigan, but Benthic Scuba in Windsor tries to run an ice course each winter.
Border crossing may be an issue depending on COVID.
Weather is always the challenge… some winters just do not freeze over enough.
At various times, their ice course has been at Tobermory Harbour, Gilboa Quarry, and Lake Simcoe (near Barrie). Basically— closest drive with good conditions at the time.

It doesn’t always go on their calendar until they have a couple of people asking for it. Once they say they are doing it… it fills quickly as there are not many in a class.
 
YES LOOKS AN ICE DIVE PROGRAM IS IN THE WORKS !!!!!LATE MARCH (asUSUAL) our facility is taylor made for the course and as always accommodation is free
 
or cave diving and running line.

So real curiosity here... Are you cave trained?
Just how would you run a lost line drill in the middle of a lake?
 
But all the same rules apply to ice diving as cave diving...

I am a bit curious about your statement.

I can see only one similarity: the physical overhead ceiling.

However, the following things are crucial in cave diving, and I do not think they are so relevant in ice diving:
1) No visibility exit (this is probably important in ice diving, but I bet the procedures are different)
2) Navigation with cookies and arrows
3) Decompression with sawtooth profiles
4) Broken line procedures (as for point 1)

On the other hand, I can think of many things critical in ice diving but not in caves (thermal protection; navigation and emergency procedures are probably very different).

Am I wrong? If not, better take a course before going there.

P.S. I am cave certified (intro level), but I do not have an ice diving piece of plastic :)
 

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