By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
Michigan Scuba Sports held a late-February diving event in Oxford, taking a team of divers under the ice at Stony Lake.
“The group [on Feb. 26 and 27] is a class,” Mario Lepore II, Michigan Scuba Sports owner and instructor, said. “There was myself and another gentleman who were assisting some new ice divers.”
The main difference between ice diving is, as one might expect, the presence of ice on the surface. Diving in non-freezing conditions allows divers to come up wherever and whenever they need to, though ice divers have to remember where their hole into the lake is and be careful about how long they stay under.
Since the surface is less accessible due to ice, Lepore limits ice diving classes to those who are already adept divers and still requires training before jumping in.
“We had a class prior,” Lepore said. “There is an e-learning packet that they worked on before we met, and we had a class for a couple hours … By the time you are taking an ice diving class you have a number of open water dives under your belt, you have taken a few different classes and probably already completed a few specialty dives; so you are, what I would say, a limited experience diver for recreational diving purposes. It is certainly one of the more advanced skills we teach recreational divers.”
But if you are at the level to go ice diving, it is an experience like none other.
“The water is great, especially when there is 16 inches of ice over it,” Lepore said. “It is nice and clear under there. We are happy to help anyone who wants to give it a try.”
Lepore has been taking diving classes up to Stony Lake for years now, becoming familiar with the lake’s features. Stony Lake also has everything he needs to run a diving class in an actual lake.
“Stony Lake is set up for it,” Lepore said. “I know the lakebed really well and we have access; a parking lot, a beach [and] restrooms. It is a perfect location.”
Michigan Scuba Sports hopes to get one more ice dive out at Stony Lake before the season ends, though an outing for March 5-6 had to be rescheduled. Michigan Scuba Sports offers a range of diving classes and equipment is included with the cost of classes. More information about Michigan Scuba Sports can be found at michiganscubasports.com.