When the Weather Outside is Frightful - Part I
Posted By Peter Scott on 17 February 2003
Imagine surfacing from a dive and breathing crisp cold air with a panorama of snow-capped mountains in the distance. The shore is empty, the ocean around you quiet, devoid of drunken summer pleasure cruisers. You have just made a deep dive to a depth you used to only feel comfortable attempting in the summer. Or you have swum several kilometers to an undiscovered dive site. Perhaps you are lost in contemplation of eagles soaring overhead, the crisp winter visibility below, or the nirvana one might attain trying to heat the whole ocean with a singularity-sized metabolic furnace.
The winter freediver is best described as an adventurer. This species of breath hold diver is willing to suffer the bite of cold water on his or her hands and feet—but only to a certain point. This adventurer uses every available strategy to prolong and enjoy cold water diving, not merely to endure it. With this approach, deep training, long distance swims, night dives, and lengthy recreational freediving sessions are all possible.
Kimmo Lahtinen freedives in the lakes of Finland all year round. The water temperature is a constant 4 degrees Celsius. "It is a huge amount of work to make a hole in the ice," he says. But it is their only option for winter diving.
Juneau, Alaska is lucky to have a milder North Pacific climate. Ward Ward, a Deeperblue denizen living in Juneau, dives throughout the year and especially relishes winter diving. "For those of us freediving in the northernmost latitudes, water temperature is a moot point—here I am, there's the water, why am I still standing here? The phrase 'I am, therefore I dive' comes to mind."
Eric Fattah, former constant ballast world record holder and inventor of
the Hypothermic Diving System, revels in the challenges of winter freediving
in Vancouver. His reward for studying the effect of diet on freediving and
thermogenesis, equipment configurations, training techniques and
supplementation is evident in the deep dives he has made in the darkest
winter months. Most people moan about the break in constant ballast
training. "I've always wanted the option to train deep all-year-round," he
said, after a recent training session. "Now it's a reality."
If winter to you means trading in your Speedo for a 3mm suit, then you may not understand the addiction of winter freediving. However, if you scrape ice from your car windows in the morning on the way to the dive site or suit up in the freezing rain, I hope this article will give you that extra edge for enjoying the treasures that await the winter freediver.
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