Abysmal depths, sub-zero temperatures, frozen lakes, icebergs… for many, reason enough to stay home with a nice book and a hot cup of cocoa. For others, a reason to don their wet suits and gloves and to jump right into it – the colder, the better. Welcome to the cool world of ice diving! Ice divers during a dive in the Canada Basin from the ROV perspective.
Ice diving is considered an advanced type of diving – some would say extreme – because it means diving in a closed environment with only one entry or exit point. This kind of diving without a direct, vertical ascent or access to the surface is called penetration diving, it includes cave and wreck diving.
In really cold climates, ice divers will also have to deal with frozen air supply systems – in which case hopefully a back-up system is available! Losing contact with the line can also be a problem that divers have to deal with.
How many people ice dive is hard to say, especially because it requires a team effort, but it is a sport that enjoys growing popularity, judging by the number of blogs and websites dedicated to the topic.
But apart from fun, ice diving is also undertaken to collect data for scientific research. According to the Scientific Diving Program website, 30 scientists dive each year as part of the US Antarctic Program and more than 4,800 scientific ice dives were logged between 2000 and 2005 alone.
