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mattd · 12-15-2009, 01:27 PM,

OK, I heard back about the ice class.

Mike Daust from GUDC has set up the ice diving class tentatively for February 6,7th. The classroom portion will be on the Wednesday night the 3rd. It takes 4 to make sure it runs. If you haven't met Mike, he's a top notch guy and a great instructor.

Who is interested?

goaliemn · 12-15-2009, 01:30 PM,

Mike is a nice guy. I took my nitrox class with him.

I don't have my AOW, or I'd love to do the ice class. Sad

Its on my list for next winter Smile

12-15-2009, 01:36 PM,

I'm interested too, but I'll have to wait. It's on my "to do" list, since all I have right now is OW.

mattd · 12-15-2009, 01:42 PM,

That's a bummer. I didn't realize you need AOW. Don't get me wrong, it was a good class. We learned a few things and had a good time, but it certainly didn't bestow upon us any magical skills that would make you more prepared for ice. It seems like a number of dives would be a better prereq, but then again, I don't get to make the rules for PADI - I just get to buy their cards.

grumpie · 12-18-2009, 08:14 PM,

Naui wants the following things before ice diving class.
1. advance open water
2. 50 dives minimum.
3. classroom-8 hrs est
4. confined water-4 hrs est
5. open water-3 minimum
no dive to exceed 40 feet or 100 feet horizontal distance.
there are a lot more thing to the class also, feel free to call me at 763-428-7674 and if I'm not home i will return your call when i get home.
grumpie....

mattd · 12-18-2009, 08:26 PM,

I don't have 50 dives, so I guess its a good thing I am looking at a PADI class Tongue

mattd · 01-06-2010, 09:52 PM,

Reminder - call GUDC and sign up for ice class!

Its coming up soon!

Terry · 01-06-2010, 10:51 PM,

I'll agree, I've known Mike for 20 years and he's a real decent guy and a top notch instructor. Terry

mattd · 01-12-2010, 09:41 AM,

The classroom portion has been moved to Jan 27th at the same time. It looks to be a fun group so far, so be sure to sign up!

mcdiver · 01-13-2010, 10:21 PM,

About time, appears that the class was initially set for Super Bowl Sunday.

I have a couple thoughts on ice diving, one of them being the Advanced Open Water certification.

A person is able to go straight from Open Water Cert to Advanced Open Water class with no dives in between. The student going straight to the Advanced Open Water class is a potential liability for future dive buddies. There are many divers who are focused merely on obtaining the next certification and not willing to put the time in to be a better diver/dive buddy. I have seen them boasting that they are an Advanced Diver, yet they dive like a rookie, plowing through the water while kicking the bottom and messing the visibility for others.

I have witnessed divers who have simply gone down to a specified depth, usually 20 feet or so, sat there for 20 minutes, surfaced, waited for there computer to reset, then dropped back down again to get another dive. I personally witnessed this on 2 occasions and couldn't believe it.

So what do you do? If you require a certain number of dives, then it is open for abuse, if you require a certain time to pass between certification levels, you run the risk of those who dive once or twice a year, wanting to get the next cert. each year.

Ice diving is no place to be if your skills are not sharp. If your buoyancy is not under control, you run the risk of one, pissing your buddiess off for kicking the bottom up, or two, slaming the underside of the ice and having your buddies explain what the heck happened to the doctors.