Agnes grew up in Poland and came to the United States in her early twenties. She graduated from the University of Michigan with degree in Economics and soon after began working in the financial industry. She has always loved travel and adventure. After a 2008 trip to Peru to climb Machu Picchu, she came back with new mission in her heart.

Inspired by her long time friend Mirek she decided to pursue climbing. She started off by getting into a regular work out regiment and after several weeks of preparations, she took off to New Hampshire to attempt a winter ascent on Mt. Washington. That winter she reached summit of Mt. Washington and she discovered ice climbing, experienced winter camping and learned basic mountaineering. She instantly fell in love with climbing and developed an eagerness to learn and explore more.

Summer brought new adventures and challenges. From mountain biking, hiking in TN, paragliding and rock climbing to her birthday skydiving jump, she rediscovered herself and found new side to her that she never knew she had. With Mirek away climbing in Alaska in summer of 2009 she made preparations for both of them to climb Mt. Rainier. In August 2009 together they successfully conquered the summit of Mt. Rainier (14,411 feet). The 2010 season has started off with more ice climbing in Canada as well as in New Hampshire.

During the summer of 2010 Agnes and Mirek will be climbing together in Peru and organizing an expedition to climb Alpamayo (19,511 ft) in 2011. She is a firm believer that “it’s better to see once than hear a hundred times” and she is very excited to share her experiences and passions with others.

Mirek’s first contact with adventure took place in 1983 during his service in the Special Forces of the Polish Armed Forces, Red Beret Division. During his involvement with the Special Forces he acted as an instructor of hand to hand combat for an elite commando unit while also learning to dive, skydive and climb. Although his Special Forces training was broad he kept karate as his main focus during that time. Mirek has won the Polish Karate Championships five times, placed third in the North American Karate Championships and first in the Karate Championships in Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Italy. He is an International Karate Instructor and holds a 5th degree black belt.

Mirek’s first main passion in the United States was scuba diving. He received his scuba diving certification in 1992. Since then he has made more than 3000 dives, over 50 of them to depths greater than 330 feet and has five years of experience as a commercial diver. In addition to commercial and deep water diving, Mirek also works with a Police Rescue and Recovery Unit leading successful recoveries and is certified to conduct underwater death investigations. Presently he is a Technical Diving Instructor for TDI/SDI conducting classes from Open Water to Advanced Trimix. (For more info visit www.deeptechdiving.com) Mirek is the first scuba diver to dive on wrecks of the Carl.D. Bradley (380 ft) and Polish Destroyer ORP Grom (350 ft).

Mirek is also a certified skydiver and a passionate mountaineer. He has climbed on and off throughout his life.  In 2008 he completed an extensive mountaineering training course in Alaska and is always open to new adventures and curious to discover new places and new cultures. In 2009 alone, he reached summit of Mt. McKinley (20,320 ft.), completed a winter ascent of Mt. Washington (6,288 ft.) and climbed Mt. Rainier (14,411 ft.). He actively pursues rock climbing, ice climbing and mountain biking. He has proven to be a great teacher and mentor to others, always eager to share his extensive knowledge and experience in all of his diverse disciplines. Together with his climbing partner Agnes they are making preparations to climb in Peru for the next two seasons, including organizing expedition to the summit of Alpamayo (19,511 ft.)