Ice Diving in Colorado

[richerso]

Hey gang!
richerso here! Thanks for listening to my stupid questions. Much appreciated.

What are the top 3 or 4 ice diving locations in Colorado ranked by popularity?? Some buddies and I are looking to make a run to Colorado between Christmas and New Years. Thanks for the input.

Locations close to Raton, NM or Colorado Springs would be much appreciated.

Also, I see from another thread here on RMO that some divers have been getting bent when returning from Blue Hole. Wow! I think that thread said something about diving to 130 ft. Isn't Blue Hole only 84 ft deep? or am I mistaken?

 

[Waterskier1]

Hey gang!
richerso here! Thanks for listening to my stupid questions. Much appreciated.

What are the top 3 or 4 ice diving locations in Colorado ranked by popularity?? Some buddies and I are looking to make a run to Colorado between Christmas and New Years. Thanks for the input.

Locations close to Raton, NM or Colorado Springs would be much appreciated.

I'm sure there are others, but the one most people I know people have dived at is Turquoise Lake up by Leadville. That's not really close to either Raton or Colo Spgs. :depressed:

Also, I see from another thread here on RMO that some divers have been getting bent when returning from Blue Hole. Wow! I think that thread said something about diving to 130 ft. Isn't Blue Hole only 84 ft deep? or am I mistaken?

You are correct, the Blue Hole is only around 80+ feet deep. The diver who got bent was diving at Rock Lake, a private lake in the same city, Santa Rosa, and the 130 ft was their AVERAGE depth, they likely were at 200+ for a portion of the dive. (These were technical divers doing decompression dives).

The problem isn't just the depth of the water, but also compensating for the significant increase in elevation (and the corresponding decrease in atmospheric pressure) on the drive home. It's the same concept as flying after diving.

 

[BigBubbaJ]

Ice diving is allowed at Wellington Lake also - but that is closer to Denver.

Chatfield doesn't close but Im not sure if it ever ices up enough for "ice diving".

 

[RonFrank]

I think most of the local Denver shops that do Ice diving certifications do so at Jefferson Lake. That is NOT all that close to CO Springs, or Raton. It is about an hour+ west of Denver.

Not sure where CO springs shops go to do Ice Diving, not sure they even offer that class.

If you want to know the top few spots to Ski in Colorado, that I can provide. I doubt there is a TOP ice diving spot in CO as most folks have no desire to dive in CO, much less ice dive.

Diving in this state generally amounts to a dive where one may see a couple fish, and a bunch of crawdads, and mud. Hardcore divers (many on this forum) may dive CO in summer, but not so much in the winter. Ice diving generally results in really cold conditions, worry about loosing your exit, and seeing very little UW. I have not done this, but have talked to some that have.

Sorry if this crimps your plans. If you love diving, CO is a short hop on a plane from many wonderful locations. In a car, not so much.

Raton is about 3 hours from Blue Hole, and if you have never been, you may enjoy doing that dive, but there will be no ice involved.

As for getting bent, I know of ONE diver who got bent diving near Santa Rosa, and then driving home to where he lives which from my understanding is at 9000'. It was a Deco dive, and I know of no diver that has got Bent diving Rec profiles and then driving to Denver, or anywhere for that matter.

 

[BigBubbaJ]

Not sure where CO springs shops go to do Ice Diving, not sure they even offer that class.

Pretty sure wellington is used for Ice a lot...

 

[richerso]

Thanks guys!

And actually, of the places listed - Turquoise, Jefferson & Wellington, I consider all of those to be close to Colo Sprgs. Texas is a big state. Anything within 5 hours drive time is "close".

 

[Waterskier1]

I just checked Diver's Reef and they are planning to dive Lake San Isabel this year (they have used Turquoise Lake in the past). They show Classroom and Pool training on Feb 17, and Training Dives Feb 20 & 21.

Lake San Isabel is South-West of Pueblo, CO.

 

[boulderjohn]

It looks like some of us might dive Wellington soon. I will post when I know. I have not been there, but I hear the vis is pretty bad, so it is not an ideal dive. Jefferson will be better, but it may be a real problem getting to it in the middle of winter.

The diver who got bent in Santa Rosa had a max of 170, but that depth was very brief, and the average was 130.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

One thing I found was true when I did my class last year was that vis under the ice can be nothing like what it is at other times. The quarry where we did ours is 10-30 feet in summer. At the end of Jan it was EASILY double that. And if done correctly losing the hole is pretty tough with the tenders and guidelines cut into the snow above you pointing back to the hole. Looking forward to this year!

 

[RonFrank]

My understanding is that Wellington Lake (which is privately owned) is having issues in this economy. However this is rumor from a rather reliable source, but rumor none the less.

Does anyone have info on the status of Wellington Lake?