BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Mallory Dragt is a manager at Diversions Scuba in Madison, Wis. She had been scuba diving, but had never been ice diving before Saturday. 

“Ice diving is a bucket list thing for every diver,” Dragt said. "People kind of travel near and far. We’ve got divers from places that don’t even have ice here with us today.”

One of those people Saturday was Scott Kleeman. He’s originally from Oregon, where the lakes don’t really freeze over like they do in Wisconsin. 

“Since I moved to Madison, I’ve been really excited to go diving,” Kleeman said. "I think it’s an excellent recreational activity. It takes you into an entirely different world.”

Kleeman and Dragt were two of eight ice diving trainees taking part in Diversions Scuba’s last training course of the ice diving season. 

“Some folks are out here just to have fun. It is a very unique experience, something you can really only do in the northern part of the county,” said Andrew Thompson, Instructor and Assistant Manager at Diversions Scuba. “We do have folks out here who might not want to do it, but it’s part of their job to go into the ice and help people out.”

After cutting through the ice and removing the 18-inch thick blocks from the water, the students paired up and went down with an instructor for two dives, about 15 to 20 minutes each. 

Even though it was her first time, Dragt said she knew what she wanted to see in the water. 

“From what I’ve heard, just, really the thing to see is right under the ice. You want to be all up in the ice formations,” Dragt said. 

She said it didn’t disappoint, and encouraged anyone who is interested - for fun or for their job - to dive right in to the new adventure. 

“We’re right here in Wisconsin,” Dragt said. "We have the ice right here. We have great lakes, great visibility.”