How Kemppi Built a World-Record-Breaking Dive Site Using TIG Welding on Ice in Finland

A world-record ice dive may be remembered for the athlete, the distance and the moment beneath the ice, but none of it happens in isolation.

At Ice Challenge Finland 2026, sponsored by Kemppi, Finnish freediver Olavi Paananen reportedly extended his own under-ice world-record achievement to around 165 metres, raising the bar again after his officially published 107.08 m Guinness World Record in 2025. Yet before a record can be broken, the site itself has to be built to work flawlessly in one of the most unforgiving environments imaginable: on open ice, in freezing conditions, with structures that need to fit exactly where they will be used.

That made welding an essential part of the story.

The ladders for the diving place were welded from stainless steel directly on the ice near the opening so that parts hefted during the construction phase could be fitted into their final position on site. Doing so made it possible to ensure the stands were exactly right for the location and that the finished parts functioned as intended in the real conditions of the dive setup.

With thin RHS stainless profile, TIG was the natural choice. It offered the level of control needed for thin material, where melt management and heat input can quickly affect the result. And with no electricity available on site, the work was carried out with a generator-powered Minarc T 223 ACDC GM, designed for portable, professional use, with pulse control for thin materials and MAX WeldClean for electrolytic weld cleaning in the same workflow.

Using the machine’s pulse feature, our welder could reduce the effect of heat input on the stainless material and achieve easier melt control, which is particularly useful on thinner sections. Welding currents were approximately 60–85 A. After welding, the seams were cleaned using MAX WeldClean at around 30–35 A, with the brush head attached to the TIG torch and used together with a 10–60% phosphoric acid cleaning fluid, followed by water for neutralization. This allowed the welds to be cleaned and the finished parts to be fitted directly into the opening to verify their functionality immediately on site.

While the record attempt captured the attention, the work around it told another story too: one of careful preparation, field-ready equipment, and welding that had to deliver precision in one of the least forgiving jobsite environments imaginable.