This weekend, two Russian explorers, Maxim Astakhov and Alexander Gubin, have set a new world record for deepest ice dive as part of their work with the Russian Geographical Society. The two men descended 102 meters (335 feet) during an 80-minute dive in the White Sea, just outside the Arctic Circle, as part of the Russian Geographical Society’s 13 Seas of Russia project.
It’s a huge achievement, not least because ice diving takes all the challenges of deep sea diving and adds a few more for good measure. […]
The biggest—and most terrifying—difference between ice diving and other dives involves access to the surface (and wonderful, necessary things like air and solid ground). Sea ice can be several meters thick, and divers’ only way past the ice is the human-sized entry and exit hole carved by the dive team.
See Atlas Obscura
