Winter creates some of Canada’s most beautiful and awe inspiring scenes. And the ice under side is particularly wonderful, but only a few adventurous souls enjoy it.
Ice diving is a team diving activity because it requires a line tender for every diver’s lifeline. Another person is responsible for paying out and staying in line so the diver doesn’t get lost, and interacting with the diver on the rope signal.
Because diving under ice places the diver in an overhead environment typically with only a single entry/exit point, it requires special procedures and equipment. Ice diving is done for purposes of recreation, scientific research, public safety (usually search and rescue/recovery) and other professional or commercial reasons or just because divers want to experience diving under the ice.
The most noticeable risks in ice diving are getting lost due to freezing under the surface, hypothermia and failure of the regulator. In general, scuba divers are tethered up for safety. The hazards for the surface support team include freezing temperatures, and dropping through thin ice.
Dive Kawartha took their ice-diving course to the cold winter water at Morrison’s Quarry on February 22 and 23. The water temperature was 4 ° C, and visibility was approximately 60′. Video depth ranged from the ice surface to 70 feet but the quarry drops to 127 feet in total depth.
Related Article: Morrison’s Quarry – https://www.thescubanews.com/2020/02/18/morrisons-quarry/
Video shot on a GoPro Hero 8 with 2 Kraken Hydra 3500 video lights.