Elite Corps of Ice Divers Battles ‘Bends,’ Cold to Perform Their Grim Task

Ice divers are peerless in the fraternity of search-and-rescue workers, an elite corps whose mission--prowling dark, frigid waters beneath a formidable ceiling of ice--appeals to few.

As the rising sun set the eastern Sierra Nevada aglow Tuesday, a team of 16 ice divers from Reno donned specially insulated suits and oxygen tanks and descended--in teams of two--from a rubber boat down through a hole in the sheath of ice coating pristine Convict Lake.

Their task, as always, was grim. The bodies of three teen-age boys and four would-be rescuers who drowned Monday were somewhere in the murky waters of the 140-foot-deep lake. It was the divers’ job to find them.

Risky at any time, Tuesday’s ice dive was particularly perilous, experts said. The lake’s altitude--at roughly 7,500 feet--and depth conspired to strictly limit the length of time divers could stay submerged, and greatly increased the risk of complications. Decompression sickness--commonly called “the bends”--can cause serious neurological damage, even death.

“At higher altitudes, divers just can’t stay down as long because of the difference in atmospheric pressure,” said Steve Linton, executive director of the International Assn. of Dive Rescue Specialists in Ft. Collins, Colo. “That factor is one reason this rescue is tricky, and is a big deal within the diver community.”

Other dangers confronting the Reno team are typical of any ice rescue. There is the frigid water temperature--which can cause severe hypothermia in minutes unless divers are suitably clad. There is the need to return to the precise point of entry in order to escape.

And there is the threat to equipment posed by the icy conditions. On Tuesday, valves on the divers’ breathing regulators froze open, causing the oxygen supply to dwindle rapidly and thus forcing the rescuers to resurface abruptly.

There are psychological factors as well: “Dropping down through a hole in the ice is not for everyone,” said Linton, a consultant on the Convict Lake rescue. “Some people go down and panic because of the stress of having only one way out.”

About 10 divers die each year after being trapped beneath ice.

There are several key elements to conducting a safe search, experts said. Chief among these is the tether that connects each diver with the surface. Without this link to “topside,” it is easy for a diver to become disoriented and lose his way to the entry point.

The tether is manned on the surface by a “tender,” who directs the search effort by tugging on the rope and guiding a diver in a certain direction.

“The tugs tell a diver to turn left, go out 10 yards, turn right, or whatever,” said Keith Chesnut, who owns the Sierra Dive Center in Reno and trained some members of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department team sent to Convict Lake. The diver also may tug on the line to indicate that he needs more line or wants to come up.

Some dive teams also use wireless communications equipment, which greatly enhances the search effort, Linton said.

To combat the cold, ice divers wear so-called “dry suits,” typically made of rubberized nylon. The suits are airtight--with special zippers similar to those used on spacesuits--and divers wear thermal underwear and street clothes underneath. Similar material is used to make hoods and gloves, so little if any skin need be exposed to the water.

“Still, anything below 40 degrees causes some degree of chilling, and that, combined with the altitude is what limits the amount of time you can stay under,” Chesnut said.

Ice divers also face the emotional strain of knowing their mission has no happy ending. On Tuesday, family members of the victims gathered on the lake shore, hoping that their relatives might be pulled out alive.

“Each time a diver returns to the surface, a family member has hope he will be bringing up their loved one, alive and well,” Chesnut said. “So every time, there is this letdown, and it gets to you to have to keep bearing this bad news.”

Ice divers insist their craft is safe if proper precautions are taken, and, indeed, it is popular recreation in some areas, particularly the Midwest. Chesnut said many divers treasure the experience as an opportunity to view aquatic creatures under winter conditions.

The Reno team--made up of volunteers and deputies from the Sheriff’s Department--was described as one of the top diving squads in Nevada by Joe Quinn, the state’s search and rescue coordinator. A team of divers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was departing Tuesday night to assist with the operation.

Still, Linton and other experts said the depth may prevent divers from finding all of the bodies, which tend to sink in cold water. In that case, a remote-controlled camera operated from the surface might be used to scour deeper areas, Linton said.

Stolberg reported from Convict Lake and Warren from Los Angeles.