Becoming Ice Diver Certified

For many years now I've been meaning to get around to getting my scuba diving certification in ice diving. In simple words, it involves cutting a hole in the ice and scuba diving in the waters beneath it. Minnesota is one of the few places in the world where you can get this certification and they only offer this class once a year.

Being that I have a brief respite before I head back out on the road, I checked the calendar and sure enough, the class was offered the second week of my return. If not now, I asked myself, then when?! So, giving up a few weekday nights and a weekend, I decided to go for it.

The first evening was class time. Always anxious to get the darn show on the road, I was chomping at the bit! Our instructor was an Aussie who asked if we were ready for some "bloody good fun?" Yes, yes, let's get going! My impatience was further compounded as we were shown a lengthy video of a previous Antarctic excursion. This video seemed to drag on and on and while it was interesting, seeing the water, ice and some of the critters, I had had enough. They taunted a leopard seal for quite awhile, it snorting away and chopping at their cameras and fins. Had it not been for some previous footage of the gang, hanging out with Steve Irwin, my thoughts would have been preoccupied with only the frustrated maw of that seal which seemed to say, get out of my water! Hmm, Steve Irwin was right the midst of shooting his last series. Those pictures must of been taken just prior to his untimely end brought about by a stingray...

People had come from all over the states and elsewhere. Californians, South Carolinians, South Africans and Australians were in attendance.

OK. Our instructor got around to pointing out the basics. Scope out area, shovel snow from ice, cut a triangular hole in the ice with a chainsaw. Then, a ciruclar perimeter is marked out surrounding the area. You then shovel paths from the hole, out to the perimeter, like giant spokes on a wheel. You also shovel direction arrows in the snow which point towards the hole. The idea is, underneath the ice, you will be able to see these great big arrows pointing towards the hole. Theoretically, if you are lost you follow the arrows home. You also drill many auger holes on the spokes to let air from the divers escape. This is supposed to prevent too much air finding its way back to the entry hole and, over time, melting it too wide. A safety line is secured to the ice with an ice screw and this line will be attached to all the divers as they enter the hole and swim away from it.

The second evening was pool time! Another reason why I was excited about this course is that I could kill two birds with one stone. I would also receive my dry suit training! From now on, I could rent a dry suit anywhere I go. Without experience, you cannot. We brought the equipment we had and gathered together that which we rented. The dry suit I had, zipped open at the chest. You then enter, feet first, put your arms though the sleeves and the tight rubber gaskets at the ends. Finally, you push your head through the tight head gasket, much akin to the birthing process. The other gear is pretty much the same, but instead of depending upon your vest for buoyancy, a hose goes to your suit and you fill it with air by pushing a button at your chest and you release air by pushing a button near your left shoulder.

Once in the pool it was fun in happy. Having to be amongst the first, I plunged in and became quickly comfortable with the suit. The pool cover had been pulled over half the pool so that you could get aquainted with staying beneath the cover, without hitting it and control your ascent and descent. Next, was learning the ropes. The lead diver hooks the line to their vest or harness and holds the line in one hand as they swim. The second and third diver are attached to the line with eye-hooks and swim on opposite sides of one another. At the end of the line, out of the water is the line tender. They feed out line, reel it in and pull in case of emergencies. As a lead diver you must know the following tugs on the line: one tug is OK, two tugs for requesting more line, three tugs to ask for line to be taken up and four tugs (or more) for emergency reeling in. We practiced those and they went swimmingly.

Saturday morning we arrived early and drove our cars out on the lake. We prepared two diving holes and one mess area, all of which required tents. There was much shoveling, holes to be augered and tents to be raised. The set up took about two hours. I looked forward to the physical labor, however, because I knew it would help to warm me up. One student, in a great big beard and hipster glasses kept taking pictures and video. That just got on my nerves - doing work while he was spending all his time pointing his camera around. I later discovered he worked for the Discovery channel. But still, dangit!!!

Get me in the water, get me the water, get me in the water!!! Argh!!! Eventually, we started. The lead instructor read off the names of the first people to go in "A" hole and "B" hole. The diving commenced. But as I looked at both rosters, I discovered that he forgot to put me on! So, guess what? I'm diving last! How lame.

So, the entire day passed, out on the ice, going from tent to tent to stay out of the open-lake wind, enganging in conversations where peopled talked on and on about where they dived and their equipment and their this and their that. Alright, what did I expect? I was just impatient. Get me in the water!!!

When it came near time, I donned my suit and brought my gear over from my car in a sled. It went quickly. Every diver was supposed to do 2 consecutive dives. One for 20 minutes, return for a 10 minute break and then back for another 20 minute dive. As the group before me returned for their break, the instructor surfaced breathing heavily, saying that he was having issues with another diver's buoyancy and felt he couldn't handle it himself. So, that diver was pulled out and I was asked if I'd like to take his place. For sure I was, but found myself rushing the prep. So, on my gear went. A hood covered my head, weight belt around my waist, I sat in one of the triangular corners with my feet dangling in the water. Down upon me swarmed the assistants. As they do with every diver in an ice dive, they put your vest and tank on, secure and attach your hoses, put on your gloves and fins hand you your regulator. The lead diver dropped in, soon followed by second, then, me. I entered and bobbed about the surface. My vest was empty of air and I kept depressing the shoulder valve of my suit, but it too was empty. And one has to be careful. If you keep depressing the suit valve and there is no air in the suit, water begins to enter. Up I was pulled and they threw ankle weights on me. Down I plopped but still no sink. Up I was pulled and they threw weights on my tank. In I plopped and down I sank.

We descended in the cold water, our only exit disappearing behind us. The water was somewhat murky from the previous dives of 17 students. Normally, there would be a 50 foot visibility. Oh, well. I dove the lake many times before and so was familiar with the many platforms and bottom features. Not all that tremendously interesting. So, I tried to focus as much as I could upon the ceiling for enjoyment.

How can I describe what the netherside of the ice looks like? Imagine someone took a sheet of glass and placed upon it a sheet of oily wax paper. From beneath the ice you look up to see a glassy ceiling, mostly gray, but with many spatterings of white blotches, pockets and occassional fissures and cracks.

It was cold. I had but 5mm gloves on my hands and with no air in my suit, there was little insulation. With a tug of the line we were notified that our 20 minutes was up. We ascended. When asked if I wanted to lead, I jumped at the chance. After my break, I plopped in again. I swam out to the extent of my rope and then began to pivot in a great arc. I tried to study many different things to distract me from my timer which did not go as quickly as I would have liked. I was very cold. In my mind, I said to myself, 'I've been much colder than this.' Looking back, I saw that one of the instructors got himself quite tangled in the line. I slowed and then helped the other instructor untangle him. I let my thoughts contimplate 'what if's' such as, what if another diver had additional complications or the line had to be pulled in quickly at some point. Just for exploratiive contemplation I also imagined a panicky situation. There was naught but the hole to return to and that extended back in the foggy distance, as said the line.

After the instructor was free of entanglement and I abandoned my interesting thoughts, we swam on. Then, the tug on the line signified it was time to return. Return we did. As I was pulled out of the water, the attendant, with spikey crampons on their feet, absent-mindedly stepped on my hand as he pulled up. Didn't feet too good and put a hole in my new glove! But I kept that wonderful sensation to myself and to you. However, first diving day was done!

The next day I was happy. I had been promised that I got to dive first as I had to dive last the day before. I got suited up and joined a good fellow diver. Today we were at "B" hole. We dropped in and my buoyancy was annoying once again, but I forced myself beneath the ice by pushing myself off from the ceiling. We descend some five minutes when I noticed it was free flowing from my regulator. This happens when your first or second stage freezes. I signaled to the instructor a few times and he did not seem too concerned. So, I illustrated the point by removing my regulator from my mouth to show him the continous flow. I wanted to finish the dive and not return early but also knew that I would be out of air before 20 minutes would pass! He signaled me to return.

I popped up through the hole. Told them I had a free flow and they immediately responded with hot water down the regulator and on the first stage of the tank. That stopped the flow. Down I sunk again. We continued our dive. Eventually, we received the 'time's up' signal and returned to the hole. I checked my pressure and saw that under 500 on my tank - usually a mark you want to end above. As I neared the hole I noticed a dizzy, light-headedness that I had never had before whilst diving. Glad the hole was approaching, I popped up, was pulled out and starting breathing earth air again. I think I may have been running low on air. I was happy that I had made it through the dives.

So, it is done. The Aussie instructor's excitement was somewhat infectious when he would ask, "wasn't that bloody good fun?" And there was a dive that I was tending line for and at it's end, he popped up through the hole and asked, "Who was tending?!" I apprehensively said it was me and he commented that that was great line-tending! That made me feel good. But it was much more about the challenge, the adventure and achievement for me. I don't think I will frequent such a thing but I do look forward to other chances in the future. Perhaps shooting video under the waters of Antarctica of other such places. I am thankful I survived, got to experience a stressful situation with a solid frame of mind, saw the underbelly of a frozen lake and am now certified.

The most fun thing? For me it was playing with the exhaled bubbles beneath the ice. If they did not find a vent hole, they did not know what to do and so would pool in places on the glass ceiling. I liked to touch them with my gloves and move them around like balls of mercury.