Ice diving


west Russia we really could enjoy everything – a beautiful pack of ice and also the rich underwater life of the sea. Ice diving around the polar circle would certainly be an experience. But


I


to tell the truth, the experience already started at the beginning of our journey in Moscow. Only a three hour flight brought us from Cologne to Moscow. When we arrived in the Russian capital, our Russian friend Anna, who would accompany us during our trip, was waiting us for. In the city of Moscow you can get around with the English language, but as soon as you travel further to the north it is very hard to find someone who can speak English. Tat evening we continued our trip by train. It took us 28 hours on


the rails to get to the north of the country. You can choose to buy food in the dining car, but the charm of buying a smoked fish from the locals at one of the many stops along the way beats having a meal in the dining car. We arrived at the station of Chupa in the early morning where we


were picked up by Polar Dive Circle. On arrival at the centre it was still dark, which makes the picture even more idyllic. Te wooden houses where our bedrooms were lay splendidly in pristine white surroundings. Aſter having slept for a couple of hours it was time for breakfast and the dive briefing for our first day. Ice diving means special requirements for dive equipment and the organisation of the dive. Each pair of divers is fixed together with a line – the same line then connects one of the divers with the tender who stands on top of the ice near the hole. Te tender stays in contact with the


n March we traveled to the north of Russia. Ice diving had appealed to us for such a long time that we wanted a guarantee of a thick pack of ice. And it would be fantastic to get this thick pack of ice in the sea – no diving in a small, sweet lake with only small criters. No, here in north


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September/October 2011


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