Alberta SCUBA diving.

Published in the Calgary Herald on November 22, 2001
Article and photos by Dave Lowery

Despite Calgary’s relatively landlocked location, Calgary scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) divers regularly brave our cold waters and high elevation to explore mountain lakes, rivers and man made lakes in the city. Simply open the Calgary yellow pages under the heading ‘diving’ and its popularity is apparent with a page and a half of related listings.

Charlene Barker, 32, a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) master scuba diver trainer and trimix rated diver, says scuba diving in the Calgary area is thriving and as the owner, with her husband Darrin, of Aqua Sport Scuba Center Inc. for eight years, estimates their scuba store alone trains about 1000 new divers annually. Although formal figures aren’t kept for the Calgary area, Darrin Barker speculates there are about 20-35 thousand active scuba divers. And those divers are a very hardy, enthusiastic stock according to PADI’s regional manager, Randy Giles, 41.

“Diving is very active in Aberta and around the world,” Giles says. “There are plenty of park diving sites like Lake Minnewanka, Two Jack or Waterton, and further training available for Alberta scuba divers. A lot of divers continue to take training such as the open water level and carry on to take wreck diving, ice diving, night diving, and navigation courses. For those who want to pursue diving, there is no shortage of services.”

Training is key to maintaining a safe sport and PADI’s training services were utilized by 17,500 Canadians in 1999 and 17,600 in 2000 out of 946,000 certifications worldwide. Despite the recent death of a Calgary man in the Bow river, Giles maintains the sport is very safe and is proud of PADI’s 36 year safety record.

“We monitor where the accidents are, what the causes are, and incorporate that into the training,” Giles says. “In diving we want people to be aware of the risks and to do that, we have interactive CDs, text books, and up-to-date instructors. Diving is an extraordinarily safe sport. There are more injuries in North America in contact football, but scuba incidents always hit the media. You are more likely to be hurt downhill skiing or snowmobiling. When a person goes scuba diving they are professionally trained. It’s a sport that you do with buddies so we look out for each other. Our people do an excellent job but one fatality is too many.”

Giles’ speculation about scuba safety is confirmed by a nonprofit agency in New Connecticut, USA, called Divers Alert Network (DAN). DAN monitors and annually publishes statistics regarding scuba injuries and deaths. In the latest publication it is reported there were 78 combined U.S. and Canadian fatalities and 517 injuries documented worldwide. Founded in 1980, DAN is a medical and research organization dedicated to the safety and health of recreational scuba divers and associated with Duke University Medical Center (DUMC). It operates a 24-hour emergency hotline service for injured divers and a diving medical information line, conducts diving medical research, and develops and provides a number of educational programs for everyone from beginning divers to medical professionals.

Chris Schmidt, 30, has been diving for about four or five years he says. He is a PADI master scuba diver trainer and trimix diver and teaches regularly at Two Jack and Minnewanka lakes. Schmidt readily admits there is an attraction to cold, fresh water diving and dives 30 to 40 times in the mountains each year.

“You have the history at Minnewanka — the old town site, docks, wharves, dam site — so you get to see what the area was like way back when,” he says. “Altitude diving has a whole different set of rules you have to understand because the atmospheric pressure is different up here. It’s not complex, just something you have to be aware of. The biggest problem we have out here is the cold water diving. If you are wearing a dry suit it’s not that cold but if you’re in a wet suit, and it doesn’t fit properly, you can become very uncomfortable and get turned off of diving. We try to emphasize the proper equipment.”

Proper equipment is essential and Malene Thompson, PADI’s public relations manager, says new divers can expect to pay between $150-$500 for courses and $1800 - $5000 if they buy their own regulator system, buoyancy compensator, wetsuit, mask, fins, snorkel, tank and weights.

“But equipment can be rented around the world and prices vary by location,” Thompson says. “The average is $50 a day.”

Overall, scuba diving has seen an 8% growth in the past five years and divers have to be at least 10 years old for a junior open water diver certification. But there’s no maximum age limit!

For more information: Divers Alert Network (DAN) www.diversalertnetwork.org, Diving Emergencies (Reminder... Call local EMS first, then DAN) DAN America International Headquarters, 1-919-684-8111 or 1-919-684-4DAN (collect). Aqua Sport Scuba Centre - www.aquasportscuba.com. Tel. 686-6166. National Association of Underwater Instructors - www.naui.com. Professional Association of Diving Instructors – www.padi.com.

From PADI, some scuba statistics:

1. There are 8.5 million certified scuba divers in the United States (all agencies)
2. 72% of divers are male and 28% are female
3. 62% of divers have an average income above US$50,000
4. 39% of divers are in a professional/managerial occupation.
5. 58% of divers are married.
6. 50% of divers have a college degree
7. The average age for divers is 36 years old.

Author note: Dave Lowery is scuba open water and dive-rescue certified and has been diving since 1983.

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