Kent Rychel

The weekly race to the TV to watch “The Undersea World of Jaques Cousteau” inspired Kent to begin the journey of scuba diving. Kent recently retired from a 20 year career as a Ski Racing Coach for Crested Butte, Vail and the U.S. Team. Before his coaching career, Kent was ranked as a top ten ski racer in the Nation. Today he is the owner of Buckaroo Beanery, a coffee house in Crested Butte, and teaches Scuba diving full-time.

Kent is certified as a Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) and teaches the CSU Open Water class, Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Dive Master, Specialty courses, Refreshers and Discover Scuba. Kent has enjoyed diving around the world. While on Vancouver Island, he dove the Columbia, a 400 foot Destroyer, in 100 ftsw. The turrets and guns were all still in place and areas of the ship were inhabited by giant Pacific Octopi. After the dive, they were boating back to the marina when the boat captain veered sharply to port. When they looked up, a giant whirlpool opened up just off their starboard bow. Kent says, "It was the kind you would see in a Hollywood, Sinbad movie! It took all of the power, in a very powerful boat, to prevent being sucked into it."

When Kent is not exploring and enjoying weightlessness in unique underwater environments, he spends his time skiing (alpine and cross country), horseback riding, archery, mountain biking, rock climbing, carpentry, tinkering with the Jeeps, pouring over maps to find new land locked potential dive sites and spending time with family (3 dogs, 2 cats, 5 horses, and luckily his Veterinarian wife, Jessica.)

Kent's Accomplishments:

• PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
• PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
• PADI Assistant Instructor
• PADI Divemaster
• PADI Master Diver
• PADI Rescue Diver
• PADI Advanced Open Water
• PADI Open Water Diver

Specialties in:

• Altitude
• Enriched Air
• Deep Diving
• Drysuit Diving
• Under Water Navigator
• Multi-level Diving
• Night Diving
• Search and Recovery
• Equipment Specialist