Ice, Ice Baby!
When I started out scuba diving, although I did my open water training in the English Channel , I honestly never ever contemplated going diving in sub zero conditions! However, earlier this year I took the plunge (literally) and signed up to do my PADI Ice Diver certification with Kraken Scuba here in Albany, New York. It was certainly the craziest diving I have ever done and the coldest I have ever been!
I always knew that when moving to upstate New York that opportunities to carry on Scuba Diving would be more limited than in the past, however I knew that I would keep on diving as it is something of a happy place for me, somewhere I feel free of the worries of life and something that really captures my imagination - combine that with my passion for photography and its a real winner of a hobby, although somewhat unkind on my bank balance. So, during the middle of February, options were somewhat limited so after mulling the the idea I decided to sign up for the Ice Diver course and see what I had let myself in for.
Lake Luzerne, New York
Having spoken to the friendly crew at Kraken I received my joining instructions, the whole course was to take place over three consecutive days, the first evening would be the theory, held on a Friday night and the three qualifying divers held over the Saturday and Sunday. The theory was really engrossing although what was more interesting was the group that I would be doing the course with - mainly State Police or Sheriff’s Department Troupers who were doing the course to be able to use it as part of their job for search & rescue or recovery operations, I was the only person there crazy enough to be doing it for fun! What was even more worrying was that as I am not dry suit qualified I would be the only person on the course doing the divers in a 7mm wetsuit! Once the instructor had done a survey of who was doing wetsuit and who was doing dry suit I did start to get concerned, even the other instructors thought I was a little bit mad to be doing it, but as I had already booked the class it was too late, still I was reassured that it was possible to do in a wetsuit and that others had done so before me! The rest of the evening passed off remarkably quickly and I left at the end of the theory feeling excited but also a little worried about how cold it would end up being.
The thick ice that was removed to make our entry hole
We had originally been scheduled to do the under ice dives on Lake George but due to conditions, the lake had not completely frozen over so we were now going to be diving on a nearby lake, a bit smaller called Lake Luzerne which had completely frozen. There were a good 11+ inches of ice, more than enough to support the weight of a truck and some; so we would be safe standing on top - we would however, need to use chainsaws to cut through the ice to be able to dive.
Once we had all arrived at the carpark on the shore of Lake Luzerne, the team of instructors and students set about getting ready to dive - one of the things I had not really anticipated was the amount of preparation that goes into getting ready to dive underneath the ice. It’s not only the diving equipment, but chainsaws to cut through the ice, tents with heaters and hot water to keep people warm, rescue equipment for people in case of an emergency. This was a serious amount of kit for a serious undertaking and luckily one of the instructors had brought an ATW (All Terrain Vehicle) with hm which made hauling all the gear to the dive site all the easier. Once everything was there and ready all we started to cut a triangle in the ice to reveal the icey cold waters of the lake. Again, I was surprised (although upon reflection I really shouldn’t have been) how long it took to cut through the Ice and how heavy it was to pull out - it took several grown men on the end of the rope to pull the solid blocks of 11 inch plus thick ice out of the water - they were pretty impressive!
With the hole in the ice cut and everything else set up all the divers proceeded to get changed into their dive gear and set up their tanks. Once everyone was ready the safety team took up their position sitting but the side of the hole ready to perform a rescue if needed - each diver would take a turn in being part of the standby rescue team as part of the course curriculum. With the rescue team in place, the instructors and divers who would be going in first got ready and got into the water - once everyone was set then the first group descended as I watched on. While looking on I had a mixture of excitement and nerves - it was interesting to see what was happening - I was nervous as I would be up next and have to dive underneath those ice cold waters! The first team to go down spent around ten minutes underneath the surface, there were no prizes here for trying to stay down as long as possible - it was too cold and to spend too long under the water, risking the onset of hypothermia if ones core temperature dipped too low. When the first team resurfaced everyone help get them out of the water as quickly as possible by removing fins from the edge and helping remove them.
The Ice Diving team in action!
It was now my turn and I approached the hole in the ice with some trepidation. I sat at the side and kitted up somewhat gingerly, BCD on, regulator checked, weight on, mask on. I then swung my feet round into the water and put on my fins - I could really feel the cold on my feet! As I was about to slip into the water I could feel my heart rate starting to rise and paused to take a couple of deep breaths to get it under control. I then took the plunge into the ice cold water. It really took my breath away, once I had gained my composure, the instructor checked I was ok along with my buddy before we all got ready to descend. After a check of safety ropes and gear we all gave the OK signal and started to descend. I was expecting clear water beneath the ice and had been envisioning beautiful rays of light coming through, however the reality was somewhat different - dark silty water that had been stirred up by the previous group and just darkness. Thankfully my torch was powerful and I could see what was just in front of me. Checking my buoyancy I then started to follow the lead, my core temperature felt pretty good but I could feel my hands and feet getting cold along with my face, it felt like the biggest case of brain freeze I had ever experienced! We followed a loop around under the ice and went to a depth of around 10m for about 11 minutes - technically one of the shortest dives I have ever done, but it felt like an eternity. During the dive we had to keep on checking in with each other via the rope - pulling on it to let the surface know we were ok as well - this took immense concentration, it was noticeable how much more concentration it took to carry out simple tasks when this cold. I wouldn’t like to be caught under the ice without a powerful light, a safety line and a buddy, that is for sure. Once we had finished our loop we came back to the surface and the team on the ice kicked into action helping us out of the water as quickly as possible. I was starting to shiver so I went into the warm tent and stood by a pot of boiling water inside to try and warm up - easier said than done. While the other group went down for their second dive I tried to warm up ahead of my second dive, I figured I had a good 20 minutes before having to brave the cold again. This seemed to go by in a flash as I soon heard my name being called to get ready. I got all my gear back on a repeated the same routine as for the first dive getting everything ready and double checking it was all functioning. Again, sliding into the water I could feel my breath being taken away - the difference this time was that I knew what to expect, honestly I am not sure that this made it any better! The difference for the second dive was that I was already cold - once down at 10m meters I could feel my core temperature begin to drop almost immediately, I tried not to panic and keep moving trying to generate a little heat but this barely seemed to help at all. We followed a similar pattern tot he first dive, swimming around in a loop while keeping in contact with the surface. We resurfaced after another ten minutes and I was glad to get out of the water. As we were only doing two dives that day I quickly made a beeline back to my truck with my gear to get changed into warm dry clothes. I struggled to peel myself out of the wetsuit but once out I quickly got into my dry clothes which made me feel better almost instantly I then put on my ice spikes and walked back out to the centre of the lake to help pack up the gear for the day and bring it back to the shore. I was amazed at how well oiled the team was in packing up and within 15 minutes everything was packed away and we were all getting into our cars to head home for the night - a well deserved beer and a warm bed awaited!
Drone photo of the Ice Diving
The next day we all reconvened at the lake to finish off our last dive for the certification. As we were only doing one dive each that day we didn’t need to put up quite as much gear as the previous day and it was also Super Bowl day so everyone was keen to get everything wrapped up in time for the pregame entertainment. The last dive I had to do was breathing off of a pony bottle - an alternate air source. I have done this many times on other courses, but in warm water so I didn’t think that this would pose too much of a challenge for me, how wrong I was! This time around I was in the first group to go down, we quickly got the ice hole cleared of ice that had formed overnight and got ready. I slipped into the water and got ready to descend - under the water we paused at around 5m to carry out the training drill - when it got to my turn I couldn’t execute the task - I took out my second stage, but I couldn’t work out how to get the regulator from the pony bottle into my mouth, I was trying to put the whole thing in and then wondering why it wouldn’t fit. As this carried on I could feel the panic rising inside on me which made me all the more frantic - eventually I had to surface without an air source. At the surface I was whipped out of the water quickly and asked what had happened. As I explained I felt quite embarrassed, but the team listened and understood. The cold water had really taken away my ability to think and perform basic tasks and caused me to panic. I was told not to worry and try to warm up - I needed to perform the skill to pass the course and after the second group had gone down they would get me back in the water to try again. Waiting at the surface I felt a little silly, and it felt like forever waiting for the second group to come back up - after they did the instructor who had been down with them said he would stay inland take me down - so I kitted up and prepared myself. In the water at the surface I made sure to take several deep breaths to steady myself and think through the task. We then descended again to 5m and I took out my regulator and swapped it with success this time for the pony bottle - I could feel a surge of excitement as I managed to do it! After getting my normal reg back in we swam in a loop again quickly for a few minutes back I could really feel myself starting to shiver so I signalled to the instructor that I needed to ascend to the surface which we did. I felt so much better for doing the task and passing the course but I really needed to warm up now. Thankfully someone had brought a large bus and left the heater running so I was able to change out of the wetsuit and into my warm dry clothes inside there which made it much better. Once changed I helped to pack everything away as everyone got ready to head back for the Super Bowl!
The PADI Ice Diving team!
Upon reflection, this was the most extreme diving I have ever done, I feel great to have completed it and gotten my Ice Diver certification, but if I were to do it again, I would definitely get my Dry Suit qualification. I feel really thankful to the team at Kraken Scuba for helping me and being so patient as well - what a great group they are. I would thoroughly recommend going Ice Diving with them if you are crazy enough to try it out! If I dive again underneath the ice I have my sights set on Iceland and the iconic dive at Silfra between the continental plates. Still, it might take me a few years to warm up again before attempting this!