Diver dies under the ice in Sparwood, BC

[jjhill]

Grave Lake scuba diving tragedy : Columbia Valley News

For those who don't know Sparwood is a small mountain town close to the Alberta/BC border. Not a lot of information in the article, however the article makes no mention of surface tenders, and given the fact that the buddy team was seperated leads me to believe it is likely that these divers were not properly trained in ice diving.

I live only a couple hours away from the accident location, so if I hear any further details, I'll pass them along.

[roturner]

Oh man.... 21 years old. What a disaster for his loved ones.

I wonder how they got separated. Like you said that's uncommon among properly trained ice divers.

I'd like to know more about their training and procedures, especially w.r.t. the guide/safety-line(s).

R..

[Jack Scuba]

It does sound like they just went in without tenders, ropes, markings etc. The fact they had to drill so many holes makes it sound that way anyhow.

Have there been any updates on this?

[sunapeebob]

My thoughts with his family and the other diver. My son and I are taking a course at the end of Feb here in NH. There is no way I would ever dive under the ice without the full set up(roped together, tenders, rescue team, etc) and finishing the course. It sounds like they thought it was like a regular dive, but with some ice covering, when nothing is further from the truth. Hope we hear more information.

[captndale]

I have never heard of a properly tethered diver dying on an ice dive. It's always someone who went in without a line or somehow got off of the line.