Views on ice diving?

[eanxdivr]

The idea of going in through the ice and not being able to exit scares me.

 

[Belce]

Ice Diving , see Werner Herzog's doc ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Not ice diving around the edge of Antartica but under feet of old ice, great video.

 

[Akimbo]

Ice diving is a great way to sell dry suits and souped-up regulators. Mostly I found it boring, though visibility is usually good. Actually, the best way to dive under ice is in a commercial hot water suit and hat with coms. Makes it much easer to get back to the hole with an umbilical.

 

[oreocookie]

It's definitely something I'd like to try, though it might have something to do with geography, hehe. Conveniently, my best friend also wants to give it a try, so sometime in the next few years, when we've got more dive experience under our belts, we'll probably be giving it a shot.

 

[tstormdiver]

I wouldn't mind to try some ice diving. The cold waters of the quarry (42 degrees F) I dive doesn't bother me a great deal. As I am introductory cave, overhead environments don't bother me either. I've been told that some of the coolest things to see is to look up through the ice & to walk upside- down under it. Sounds intriguing. Would like to try it, if for no other reason, than to say I did. Then I'd know if I like it or not.

 

[abies]

I haven't tried it yet, but living in Canada I see it as inevitable, and is by far the course I look forward to the most. I haven't been able to dive since Oct, and it has been a long time.

 

[uncleavi]

I learned in Sault Ste Marie Ontario and it was a lot of fun.

 

[Kingpatzer]

If I want to dive all the time (and I do!) then about 3-4 months out of the year I have to do ice diving. So I do it. And honestly, I love it!!

It's all about the preparation though. We put up a tent around the hole, bring heaters and a BBQ grill, and basically go about having a big party when we dive. Yeah, it's alot of set-up work, but you also can keep the site open for a few days before the hole becomes too big of a mess, so you do it on weekends when you can dive 2 or 3 days.

And finally, handing the ice diver card to operators in the tropics almost always gets the raised eyebrow

 

[Lone Frogman]

Never tried it. If I lived where it iced in the winter, I would ice dive.

 

[Chugwhump]

I have almost no interest at this time in diving under a layer of really hard water.
I am not a cave fan either.
If I do not like a movie, I always want to be able to just stand up and walk right out.
This being said:
I always stop the remote on a program about diving under ice.
The techniques and gear fascinate me.
I have seen some stunning pictures.
I am glad that someone is doing it, but living in SF as I do, this has never been high on my agenda of things I need to do on my bucket list.
Chug
Likes warm water, fish, and free lobster.