By Rick Stratton
Publisher, Dive News Network

Ice diving is a way to take the experience of diving to a new level. As the name implies, dives take place under ice, but result in some of the clearest visibility available. Ice diving is considered an advanced type of diving, because it requires special training. The diver is literally held to one exit point which is the same point where he or she came in.

Perry Smith of GNS Watersports in Tobermory, Canada trains people to ice dive every year. “It really depends on the year and the amount of ice we get but most years we end up training quite a few divers to ice dive,” says Smith.

“It is diving in what is referred to as an enclosed environment so it does take some different training than regular diving.” Smith says that he gets all types of people wanting to try this extreme type of diving and he says he does understand the draw.

“You can’t beat the beauty of the water,” says Smith. “The cold tends to clear the water and the visibility can be amazing.”

Special training includes learning a number of things about ice itself, how it forms, how to recognize unsafe conditions, what it means to practice proper dive site preparation as well as what the equipment requirements are.

Matt Mandziuk of Dan’s Dive Shop, Canada’s oldest PADI 5 star training facility, is located in St. Catherine’s and he says understanding the special precautions one has to take for ice diving is three quarters the battle.
“A diver has to be tethered for instance,” Mandzuik says. “You can’t dive under the ice without being tied off because it is easy to get disoriented if visibility is compromised or diver is caught in a current and drifts too far, suddenly you find that you can’t find the way out. Having the tether ensures that you can guide out by the line or, if need be, someone can pull you out.”

Mandziuk who is a second generation dive shop owner says that they do a lot of their ice diving in January and February. “I train a lot of people and I always tell them that they should dive in a drysuit although there are some dive shops who say you can still use a wetsuit. I don’t encourage wetsuit ice diving,” says Mandziuk.
“It is best to learn from a certified ice diving instructor who utilize the modern ice diving techniques and practices. Not everyone knows the proper way to prepare a diver for this type of diving.”

Ice diving is a team diving activity because of the dangers involving the tether. Your dive buddy in this instance of diving is just as important as your buddy in the water on regular dives; perhaps more so seeing that this buddy is literally holding your life line.

Communication becomes the most important part of diving. Divers need to hash out signals before ice diving developing a series of tugs that both diver and lifeline diver understand clearly.

Jeff Pauze, of Rockport Dive Center in Montreal, which is just across the border from Alexander Bay, says that there also needs to be at least one other diver. “There needs to be a third diver who is suited up just in case something was to go wrong,” Pauze says. “This way if the line diver gets an indication that the guy below the ice is in trouble; he can jump in.”

Pauze has owned Rockport Dive Center for over 16 years now and has seen it all when it comes to ice diving. “I do a lot of ice diving; between 30-50 dives a year,” says Pauze.  “It is very important to teach them to ice diving properly.”

Diver Warren Lo had a different perspective on ice diving; he does it for the photos (as you can see from the photos here). A long time diver and close friend of diving legend Alec Pierce, Lo says that he enjoys ice diving because he can take photos that show those who don’t dive the beauty of it all. “I took a PADI course in ice diving years ago and although I don’t go a lot, I still try to once or twice a year,” says Lo.

“As a photographer it seemed an interesting type of diving to explore and it was. I enjoy ice diving because it is such a unique experience. Most regular divers are in awe of ice divers and they have no idea what would drive someone to do it but once you have seen the beauty of the clear water it’s easy to figure out.”

As for special equipment, there are some things to consider. Pauze suggests always using a drysuit and says that divers can use their regular regulators but that they do need to be adjusted. “I use Poseidon regulators because it has been my experience that they work best in the colder environment,” says Pauze. “However any regulator will work as long as it is adjusted to handle the cold water. I do suggest that divers use extra cylinders on ice dives for safety purposes.” Mandziuk agrees that regulators need to be adjusted. “Your regulator needs to be adjusted down to 125-135 psi to account for the colder environment,” Mandziuk says. “And I agree that the use of double cylinders is a good idea. You don’t necessarily have to go out and purchase different equipment but then that is where understanding the ice environment comes in. Looking ahead, above and beyond open water diving will help you get the right equipment.”

All of the dive shops I spoke to agree on the same precautions; learn from an expert, dive in a team of at least three people, learn the tether and adjust your equipment taking your lead from a learned professional. Smith says that in Tobermory his dive shop does ice dives right off of the area where his dive shop is. “We used to be able to go out further on the ice; however, with global warming and all that there just isn’t as much ice as there used to be,” says Smith. “When you can do it though, it is an experience that you will not soon forget.” ■