Tom, your post exemplifies a key problem in technical diving training today. 
There is no 
difference in complexity between a 130 - 200 dive and a 200 - 260 dive as you
indicated.  The 
perceived need for further training and skill development in the deeper range
is because divers are 
not aquiring a sufficient understanding of these essential skills (physiology,
gas management, 
equipment management, etc.) before getting to the point where it will likely
kill them.  There is 
no reason why divers in the 130 - 200 range should have a lesser understanding
of these concepts, 
and to believe so is merely concession to statistics, because the shallow
divers are living through 
their incidents.  You are correct in your assessment of the need for training
due to the risks of 
these dives, but then, why not start teaching these essential skills from day 1?

-Sean


On Mon, 21 Sep 1998 17:55:46 -0400, Tom Mount wrote:

>Mike
>
>You did ask agencies why they did not teach mix in the 130 to 150 range. I for
one did answer you 
and stated IANTD does in it's intermediate trimix program.
>
>Now as far as skill and theory go it does require more skill to do deeper
dives than shallow ones 
and more equipment management. Divers on deeper  dives face more potential for
stress than on 
shallow dives. For this reason these should and hopefully always will be skill
related courses.
>
>also the degree of knowledge, skill and experience to manage dives in the 130
to 200 zone is much 
greater than in the 130 and shallower zone, the ability to manage dives in the
200 to 260 zone is 
increased again and as divers get deeper and into hypoxic mixtures they need a
better understanding 
of the physiology and gas management procedures. Having taught a fair number of
people gas diving I 
for one would be horrified at having magic wands waived to allow divers to do
deep mix dives (as in 
deeper than 130) so IANTd will always require dives, theory and demonstration
of the ability to 
manage stress and gas and to safely plan and accomplish technical dives. In
fact each year I become 
more aware of the needed extra training.
>
>I hope you are correct in your statement that mix will become as popular as
EANx, but see pitfalls 
due to divers not wishing to spend the money on helium, and in parts of the
world it is quite 
difficult to get.
>
>I also hope many will not share your viewpoint that all one needs to do to go
from a basic 
recreational diver to a trimix diver is to buy a bottle of helium and mix it
up. If they do the 
number of accidents will become frightening and we will all be banned to Lee
Somers prediction of 
SCUBA 20005, where the experienced diver may watch the wall diving video to
fulfill his/her need 
for adventure while the SCUBA police observe to see that we are not getting
overly excited by the 
experience.
>
>Safe Diving to You
>Tom Mount
>CEO IANTD World HQ
>http://www.iantd.com
>
>


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