The Ice is Nice: Come on In - Part I
Posted By Steve Millard on 20 June 2005
We got to the dive site early Saturday afternoon. As soon as we got there we walked over to the edge of the Cliffside and peered cautiously over to see what we had let ourselves in for. The site was not that dissimilar to our own Dorothea in North Wales. There were high- sided cliffs with trees standing tall all around and the perfect reflection glistening back at us made it doubly impressive. It was strange because it looked like there was no ice but we could see some of the freedivers in the distance walking over to the platforms. The rainfall earlier had melted the snow and left a thin layer of water over the ice so it looked like it was just a lake, but with people walking on it, it was surreal and beautiful and made me smile.
By now we were really looking forward to getting in so we hurriedly changed into our wetsuits and in our excitement we forgot about the cold. We walked down a slippery, icy slope to a set of old metal ladders attached somehow to the wall and went down to the ice.
The ice was 10cm thick and was really clear. This apparently made it very strong and a quick bit of maths (thickness squared multiplied by five I think) led Sverker to the quote of the day. ‘I could park my Volvo on that’ he said confidently. I wasn’t that confident about standing on it never mind parking a car on it! Now stood on the ice it was great, you could see the rocks ten metres down disappearing out of visibility. It was just like being stood on water, very strange indeed, and we stayed there a while just looking under the ice and taking in our surroundings. We walked / skated cautiously over the really slippy surface it was great fun, like being kids again.
We got over to the wooden platform without falling (just) and as I was stood there wondering how we were going to actually get under the ice I heard a chainsaw start up nearby. It was mesmerizing to watch the lads cut the holes, it all looked a bit haphazard at first but it soon became apparent the task was running like a well-oiled machine. One thing that never ceases to amaze me in my travels is the expertise people gain by doing things like this on a regular basis without even really realising they have become experts.
Firstly an equilateral triangle was carefully cut in the ice with the 90-degree side pointing back towards the platform. A small hole was cut in the centre of the triangle to help pull it out and to be used later to mark the triangle with a branch or something conspicuous because apparently this is Swedish law to prevent some poor unsuspecting skier or similar from falling down the hole and having a cold bath or worse! Whilst the hole was being cut someone was always nearby to help stabilise them with a foot or hold onto their back. Then appeared a one and a half metre long saw to help finish sawing the holes. The hole was quickly cut and then came the tricky bit, pulling the ice out of the hole without falling in. There were a couple of moments where I wished I'd left my video running.
After ‘supervising’ a couple of the holes being cut (now I look back I don’t know how they will manage without us) it was getting a bit chilly so it was time for ice football and ice throwing competitions. We weren’t like three 30 -year-olds, we were like three thirteen-year-olds but it was great fun and kept us warm.
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