Ice Diving

[MNDiver]

Hello all you ice divers....

I really love ice diving.  It is great to drive up to the dive site and jump in.  No boat to tow, better vis, no $@*#&$) sailboats!  What's not to love?

In an never ending quest to satisfy my curiosity I have a question.  How do you ice dive?  What procedures, equipment, percautions and so on do you use?  Any books on the subject you like? Best place to get gear?  I have heard of several methods from; two down on one rope, one down using a cave reel, one down on one rope, attaching the rope below/on top of the ice and so on......  I know how I do it, but it never hurts to learn from others.  So again, how do you ice dive.

Chris

[lulseth]

Stop into Going Under, there are Ice Diving manuals available there as well as equipment, talk to Ron, he wrote the book, (literally). I am trying to get a good idea of what weekends to plan our ice dives this winter, also trying to find out some cool locations to go do it.

Lee

[MNDiver]

lulseth,

Thanks for the feedback.  I have gone through a few books.  What I am actually looking for is what local divers are doing, not what the books say.  I am looking for the "lived experience" from the locals.  Another way to ask the question is: If you ice dive, how do you do it?

I have also talked to some people that are "cave certified" and use "cave procedures" to ice dive and would like to get their feedback on exactly how one applies to the other and what "cave procedures" they specifically use.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Chris

[WeatherPaparazzi]

Any dive shops having a class on this anytime soon?  Like Next month, not next year?

[MNDiver]

Ok, I am pretty sure that people other than myself ice dive up here in MN.  Whats up? Let's talk about Ice Diving.  Now that it is the season, how do you really ice dive?   Where have all the divers gone?   :'(

[gclassen]

Contact Ron at GUDC for an Ice diving class schedule. I think they are  having a class in Jan. As far as where did all the divers go,,,the rich ones went south, the rest of us are wishing we could!!

Greg

[Raysh]

i`ll be out for ice diving as soon as i get certified.

[corndogg2]

Hey Chris, I've only been Ice diving once out of Phil Kerber's rig with the GLSPS.  He's got a large portable ice shack that you can dive from inside which was nice.  We ran one dive per line I believe. I wouldn't want anybody else on my line with me.  We did two divers down at a time.  Everybody had redundant air or rebreathers with bailout.  We dove the Hopkins on Minnetonka.  We had great vis, about 40-50 ft I would guess.  We could see the entire boat at once.  Not much to see as it is a burned out hull.  I believe it used to resemble the Minnehaha. I have dove the Hercules in early spring.  It's a very small tugboat about 25-30 ft maybe.  Pilothouse missing.  I would like to see the stern and side-wheeler even though I have heard they are a debris field. 

As for my dive rig.  I have a neoprene drysuit I use for commercial work which keeps me very warm. I  use an ice cap which is a thin neoprene hood that covers your entire face except for eye and mouth holes.  After you put a regular hood over that and get it adjusted right you can not even feel the cold water anywhere on your body. I have dove my doubles before but I might just carry a pony this year.

I hear wazee gets ridiculously clear in winter and would like to see that as well as dive using cave methods.  I've had no cave training but would be comfortable trying it in wazee with good vis.  If you lost your way I should be able to find my way back anyway.....maybe.