Dene Ulmschneider

Ulmschneider teaches TDI out of Scuba Techie in north Florida cave country. In the forums he is named as one of three "big names" for sidemount cave instruction, alongside Edd Sorenson and Mehdi Zinetti, which is a short list to be on. Others name him as the person they began their technical training with and stayed with. His reviews describe someone who holds a high bar without making it unpleasant — one student's phrase is "balancing high standards with supportive guidance", with skills drilled until they are automatic and the reasoning given rather than asserted. The theory side comes up more than it usually does: several students single out him taking real time over the mathematics behind technical diving rather than handing over tables and moving on. The other consistent theme is the setting. Accommodation and meals at the property feature in nearly as many reviews as the instruction, and students describe something closer to a camp than a classroom — which for a week of cave training in the middle of Florida cave country turns out to be much of the point.