A group of brave divers is going to set two new world records at once in the Elbrus region. To do this, the participants of the expedition "On the Edge of Possible", which is being prepared with the support of the Mostovsky District Branch of the Russian Geographical Society, intend to dive into the "dead eye of the genie". This is the name of the high-altitude lake Severnoye Birdzhaly in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.
Two organizations are involved in the bold project: the underwater research center “Drugoye Izmereniye” (eng. “Another Dimension”) from Krasnodar and the “Gomel Diving Center”. Yuri Kashin, a member of the Mostovsky District Branch of the Russian Geographical Society, the head of “Drugoye Izmereniye”, three-time world record holder in high-altitude diving, spoke about the preparation for the expedition.
“We have chosen the most dangerous place in our country: the lake is located at an altitude of 3,380 m above sea level and has a diameter of 4 km. It is filled with the meltwater of the Elbrus ice. Our clubs have applied for two world records at once: a single dive into the ice lake by a female diver, and the highest-altitude scuba diving for research purposes (tandem),” said Yuri Kashin.
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According to him, the expedition "On the Edge of Possible" is a difficult and very costly task.
“We will use machinery and horses to lift special equipment to a height of over 3,000 meters. A separate item of expenditure will be documenting the records themselves. Our team is looking for sponsors, and we also need help from manufacturers of underwater equipment. We will defend the right for a world record in our country!” Kashin assured.
As a child, Yuri Kashin liked to watch television programs about Jacques-Yves Cousteau and, following the famous scientist, also decided to explore the depths. In 2011, he began professional training at a diving club, then received his first certificate, second, third. As a result, he became a dive master, and then an instructor.
Kashin and his friends have a lot of extremely difficult ice and high-altitude dives under their belts. For example, in the summer of 2021, a group of divers set a world record for Geographer's Day. The divers made a night high-altitude dive into the largest lake of the Caucasian Reserve – Bolshoe Imeretinskoye, or Lake Bezmolviya. The expedition members climbed to a height of 2,550 m, and then descended to a depth of 18.2 m. The result of the work was the first 3D model of the reservoir.
Elena Ryzhkova, Alexander Zhirnov
Елена Рыжкова, Александр Жирнов