9000 meters project

An attempt to dive to 152 meters preceded by summiting Mt Everest (8848 meters)

Mountains and water - two extremes that have stimulated human imagination for centuries...

People have always wanted to outsmart gravitation and climb a vertical wall.
They have also dreamed about being weightless - diving is the fulfilled dreamed about flying, floating buoyantlessly.
They ascended to the top of mountains to reach out to the sky and invade gods' realm.
They also wanted to find out what spirits were guarding treasures hidden in the depths.
These are our human romantic quests to discover what is usually hidden from our eyes and get to the places, where we perhaps should not be...

9000 meters project is the result of combing these two passions - mountains and water, climbing and diving. 9000 meters is the sum of the height of Everest (8848 meters) and the remaining 152 meters under water.

So, 9000 meters project is the consequence and completion of 7summits.pl, project, whose objective has been summiting the highest mountains on all the continents, successfully carried out by Agnieszka Kiela-Pałys and Maciek Pałys since 2004. Together they have already climbed most of the highest summits, including the one most spectacular - Agnieszka was the 4th Polish woman to come to the Top of the World on 18th May 2008.

Scuba diving is equally important for Agnieszka and Maciek as the mountains, although for the time of duration of 7summits.pl project it was not the top priority. Currently, with a group of excellent divers and under the supervision of Jacek Lubowiecki, they spend most time diving, and pursue this passion before all others. On 5th March 2011 Agnieszka was the 1st Polish woman to dive to over 100 meters to the bottom of Hańcza Lake under ice, reaching the depth of 105.2 meters together with Wojtek Gumiński. Other participants of the dive (under water and land support divers) form the group of participants of 9000 meters project, because together they are a very strong team! Achievements of all the participants of the project are presented in the next tab - please feel free to get to know them all and every single one of them!

The unique concept of 9000 project consists in the combination of the two apparently different elements - mountains and water. Apparently, since both in climbing, and in diving brain is better than brawn; similarly important features are strong character, perseverance, ability to foresee future occurrences, imagination.

It was already in course of carrying out the large-scale 7summits.pl project, when we realised that there are no impossible things - we are faced only with big bold dreams and our own limitations, which inevitably leads to success.

So, 9000 meters project is the natural consequence of combining these two fantastic passions: climbing and diving, the effect of years of training, as well as continuous mastering of skills in the company of the best.

We invite you to follow this unique project, since relatively many people summitted Everest (around 5000), but there have been very few cases of combining such unique skills in one person (and probably there has been no woman so far), since it requires

COURAGE  DETERMINATION  CONSISTENCY

Achievements

Achievements within the framework of 7summits.pl project:

• Mt Everest                       23.05.2008
• Aconcagua                       22.01.2006
• McKinley                          20.06.2006
• Kilimanjaro                       21.01.2005
• Elbrus                              25.08.2005
• Carstensz Pyramid            21.10.2009
• Mont Blanc                       07.09.2006

Achievements within the framework of 9000 meters project:

• dive to the depth of 105 meters in the Hańcza Lake in summer
• dive to the depth of 102 meters in the Canyon, Dahab Egypt
• dive to the depth of 105 meters in the Hańcza Lake in winter under ice - the 1st woman's dive below 100 meters under ice (Agnieszka Kiela-Pałys), the 1st CC rebreather dive below 100 meters under ice (Wojtek Gumiński) - 2 new records

What-s next

• training dives in Egypt
• reaching at least the depth of 152 meters being the difference between 9000 meters and the height of Everest, plus an attempt to set up a new woman's dive record for Poland (autumn 2011 - spring 2012
• summiting the highest mountain in Antarctica - Mt. Vinson (January 2012)
• summiting the highest mountain in Australia - Mount Kosciuszko (March 2012)