Went to Jasper Friday night so my body could adjust for an altitude dive. (Altitude 3484 feet) Saturday morning 8:30AM at Lake Edith it is four Kilometers from Jasper. Air temperature 33 degrees F or plus 1 degrees C. Water temperature 42 degrees F or plus 5 degrees C. Adorned a seven mill wet suit, hood, gloves, boots. Then the BCD (buoyancy control device) air tank, mask, snorkel, fins thirty two pounds of weights, then we are ready to go, looking more like the Michelin man with an air tank, than anything else. There is something about looking at the snow line in the mountains two hundred feet above the water and saying to yourself, I know where the water is coming from, it just does not sit well with your mind, this looks cold! But we come this far we must forge ahead. Into the water we go, the initial shock of the water is cold but not that bad. It is just a little instant cold when the water seeps into you suit, then your body warms up the water, then it is OK. It is not that bad! We go out into the lake down to twenty feet, at altitude it is like being in thirty-five feet deep in the ocean. I do my skills like I have been trained under the watch full eye of our instructor. Take my mask off put it on clear the water out. Take the air regulator out of your mouth put it back in. Basically skills are practicing every thing that could go wrong so you can deal with an emergency if need be. Done some under water navigation. That is different following a compass under water. After Saturday and Sunday dives I logged two and a half hours of bottom time. Passed a few hours in Jasper to let my body adjust before crossing over the Obed Summit (Altitude 4400 feet) on the way home, a precaution against the nitrogen narcosis. I had a great time; this is a sport that I will continue. Can’t wait to dive the ocean.
Sifu Hayes www.silentriverkungfu.com Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada
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