Any technical course (TDI, IANTD, etc.) is an initial level in qualifications, a start for self-development. We invite you to practice and to study technical diving here at Baikal. You’ll get outstanding experience learning technical diving here in Baikal conditions. Practicing skills in the conditions of Baikal is always cold water and sometimes absolute darkness. 
And the master class of the Baikal School of Technical Diving is a confirmation of the high level of a technical diver with IANTD or TDI qualifications. 

Taking the training of the Baikal School of Technical Diving, you will understand why diving in a dry suit at +8 and diving in a dry suit at +3 is a total difference. And this is not because your hands are frozen. You will understand why you cannot dive 120+m tomorrow. Why did less than 10 people dive at Baikal deeper than 100 m! Baikal is a harsh environment. Very harsh. Some of the most difficult in the world. And we know HOW in these conditions it is safe to dive.

All the recommendations and knowledge that you will receive on the courses is our experience. An experience based on the best of the world's technical diving experience, adapting this best to our harsh conditions. And also our personal experience. We got ourselves on baddy dives and solo dives. These are statistics from thousands of dives made by us and other divers. Following our experience, you will be able to dive like us or better than us.

Certification is not an international, and not official. But it confirms your really high level of skill and makes it possible to dive safely in the most difficult conditions.
When taking courses, it is necessary to strictly adhere to all procedures, configurations, plans that we use. We do not guarantee completion of the master class and do not guarantee certification for the levels of ABYSS, TEK 100, TEK 120 Extreme, TEK 150 Unlimited, if you do not follow our recommendations 100%.

Before the master class, a check dive is required to check your current level. The diving program is compiled INDIVIDUALLY, after skills assessment and can be adjusted during the master class. The set of necessary gases and other parameters of the dives are determined during the master class, based on the physiological characteristics of the student.

Step by step
The theory is first. Checking your configuration and adapting it to Baikal conditions. Baikal decompression theory. Planning, organization and technique of Baikal deep diving.
Dives. Many shallow dives and many deep dives. And finally, your deepest dive in Baikal conditions.

Minimum age: 20 years. For TEK 150 - 22 years old.
Experience: at least 10 logged dives of your qualification level.
Student to instructor ratio: 3 trainees per instructor for ABYSS, 2 for TEK 100. It is up to the instructor to reduce this ratio, depending on conditions. One student each (1) in TEK 120 and TEK 150 master classes.

Theory, methods and procedures for decompression dives up to 60 meters. Planning, organization and technique of Baikal deep dives, with phased decompression stops not exceeding a maximum depth of 60 meters. Checking your configuration and adapting it to Baikal conditions.

Number of stages: 2

Who can enter the master class:
You must be certified at least the Technical Diver / Normoxic Trimix level (or analogs TDI, GUE and CMAS. Analogs from PADI are accepted only on recommendations).

Structure and duration of the Abyss course:
1. A minimum of three (3) shallow water dives are required.
2. A minimum of two (2) dives up to 45 meters are required.
3. A minimum of two (2) dives up to 60 meters are required.
4. Detailed briefings before and after dives, with video discussion

Cost: determined from the required number of dives, individually, based on the student's experience. The base cost for calculation is here.

Skills for planning deep (up to 100 meters) dives in the conditions of Baikal, and this is sometimes darkness and always cold. A special Baikaltek decompression program, developed based on the vast experience of deep diving in Lake Baikal, in cold water. Several dives will be made to depths of up to 100 meters.

Number of stages: 3

Who can enter the master class:
You must be certified at least Trimix IANTD level (or analogs TDI, GUE and CMAS. Analogs from PADI are accepted only on recommendations).

Structure and duration of the TEK 100 course:
1. A minimum of four (4) shallow water dives are required
2. A minimum of one (1) dive to 45 meters is required.
3. A minimum of one (1) dive to 60 meters is required.
4. A minimum of one (1) dive to 80 meters is required.
5. A minimum of one (1) dive to 90 meters is required.
6. A minimum of one (1) dive to a depth of 100 meters is required.
7. Detailed briefings before and after dives, with video discussion

Cost: determined from the required number of dives, individually, based on the student's experience. The base cost for calculation is here.

Master class of diving to depths of 110 - 120 meters in the Baikal cold water. Extreme deep diving in cold water requires a lot of experience and a solid approach. We will give the necessary knowledge, calculation methods and gas selection, revise the configuration from the point of view of ultra-deep diving and consider the necessary psycho-physiological parameters of the diver. As part of the master class, dives are made to depths of up to 120 m. Certification is awarded after a well-planned and successfully completed dive.

Number of stages: 4

Who can enter the master class:
You must be at least Trimix or Expedition Trimix IANTD certified (or analogs TDI, GUE and CMAS. Analogs from PADI are accepted only on recommendations).

Structure and duration of the TEK 120 course:
1. A minimum of four (4) shallow water dives are required
2. A minimum of one (1) dive to 45 meters is required.
3. A minimum of one (1) dive to 60 meters is required.
4. A minimum of one (1) dive to 80 meters is required.
5. A minimum of one (1) dive to 90 meters is required.
6. A minimum of one (1) dive to a depth of 100 meters is required.
7. A minimum of one (1) dive to 110 m is required.
8. A minimum of one (1) dive to 120 m is required.
9. Detailed briefings before and after dives, with video discussion. The instructional video is filmed up to 100 meters.

Cost: determined from the required number of dives, individually, based on the student's experience. The base cost for calculation is here.

Diving master class to depth of 130 - 160 meters. Practice with many stages. Factors contributing to the development of DCS even when all the "most conservative standards" are observed.Ways to mitigate these risks. As part of the master class, dives are made to depths of up to 140 m.

The course does NOT do dives to 150 m as part of the master class !!!

All dives are deeper - planned and performed by the diver independently with appropriate and necessary support. The certification is awarded after a well-planned and successfully completed dive.
Gas preparation "to order", for any trimix dives (to any depth, with any mixture composition) is done only after we are confident that you CAN do the declared dive.

Number of stages: 5

Who can enter the master class:
You must be certified at least the Trimix or Expedition Trimix IANTD level (or TDI, GUE and CMAS analogues) + have successfully passed the TEK120 master class

Structure and duration of the TEK 150 course:
1. A minimum of four (4) shallow water dives are required
2. A minimum of one (1) dive to 45 meters is required.
3. A minimum of one (1) dive to 60 meters is required.
4. A minimum of one (1) dive to 80 meters is required.
5. A minimum of one (1) dive to 90 meters is required.
6. A minimum of one (1) dive to a depth of 100 meters is required.
7. A minimum of one (1) dive to 110 m is required.
8. A minimum of one (1) dive to 120 m is required.
9. A minimum of one (1) dive up to 130 m is required
10. A minimum of one (1) dive up to 140 m is required
11. Detailed briefings before and after dives, with video discussion. The instructional video is filmed up to 100 meters.

Cost: determined from the required number of dives, individually, based on the student's experience. The base cost for calculation is here.

Gennady Misan is founder of diving center "BaikalTek".
- Instructor Trainer IANTD levels Trimix Gasblender, EANx, Advanced EANx, Technical, Normoxic Trimix, Trimix, Expedition Trimix;
- Instructor IANTD levels Life Support Service Technician, Trimix Gasblender, EANx, Advanced EANx, Technical, Normoxic Trimix, Trimix, Expedition Trimix;
- Instructor Trainer SDI
- Instructor Trainer TDI levels Trimix Gasblender, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedure, Extended Range, Advanced Trimix.
- Instructor TDI levels Trimix Gasblender, Sidemount, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedure, Extended Range, Entry Level Trimix, Advanced Trimix, Full Cave.
I have been practicing diving and been instructor since the 80s. I started technical diving (they way it is thought of today) in 2000. I constantly practice deep and expeditionary trimix dives at Baikal. My deepest dive was made at Baikal when the water temperature was only +1 degrees, and the air temperature was -20. The depth of this dive was 165 meters. Besides, I have done multiple dives that were deeper than 120 meters in similar conditions. Nobody else in Russia practices such dives in cold water. And probably in the entire world there are only a few divers who attempt the same.
I regularly teach technical diving and instructor courses IANTD and TDI, at Baikal and in other bodies of water, countries and cities.
There is always something to learn from an experienced person, and I believe I have some solid experience. Hence, additionally to regular courses I host master-classes for deep-diving and deep-diving in cold water. I have attended lots of courses myself, and learned a lot from others, as well as built on my own experience. All of these allowed me to develop my own approach to deep diving and create my own school of Baikal technical diving – graduates of which, my former students, dive all over Russia and abroad.
If a diver receives technical diving certificate it doesn’t necessarily mean that he can dive alone in difficult conditions. Patience, experience and further mastery, including that obtained through learning from others, give one a better chance to dive safely, while practicing real technical diving, not just being a diver who has technical diving certificate.

Tatiana Oparina - Advanced Trimix Diver TDI (2003), Cave diver TDI (2011), Trimix Instructor IANTD (2010), Timix Instructor CMAS (2014), Instructor SDI (2019) - is a founder of "BaikalTek" dive centre.
I made my first dive in 1998 in the Canary Islands. In June 2001 I passed an OWD course in Egypt. It took me 2 more years to get my Divemaster PADI qualification. At that moment my maximum dive depth was 40 m, number of dives ~ 100. In January 2003, having made my first dive in the Baikal, I decided to change my occupation and become a professional diver. The Baikal overwhelmed me, that was love at first sight. I had never seen such severe, modest and grand beauty before. So, I took my tech courses right then, in January. Within 8 months to follow I made over 100 dives and reached the level of Advanced Trimix.
My list of "deep steps" (all dives are made in the Baikal):
100 m - 01.08.04.
100 m - 14.06.07 - Bottom time 10 minutes, water temperature +2. The first underwater wedding ceremony in the world. Buddy (husband) - Gennady Misan.
110 m - 29.06.06.
120 m - 31.05.07.
130 m - 15.09.10 (a dive made on the 18th day of going completely without food).
140 m - 17.07.13.
145 m - 28.11.13.
150 m - 06.12.13.
156 m - 19.12.15.
170 m - 03.12.17
As you can see from the "list" - "I am not torn for the depth." Any dive deeper is the result of several dozen dives to the maximum and slightly shallower depths, with all the nuances being worked out to automatism.I make all my deep dives solo. Free fall always. Ascending and decompression -  always  in a free ascents and moving up the wall regime. No ropes or deco stations are used. All the gasses used for the dive I have with me. 
These are the conditions in which I made my 100+ dives. The most difficult was probably the dive I made on January 2014 in the Baikal. Water temperature +1 Celsius. An extremely strong up current in a canyon starting at the depth of 110 meters and making its way to the surface. To give you an idea of how strong it was suffice it to say that at the depth of 20 meters I - loaded with a twin cylinder kit and 3 stages - clung  to the rocks and felt as if I was a flag in the stormy wind. Cold water and pressure on the membranes resulted in freezing of absolutely all (!!!) regulators. Even on the twin cylinder kit. So, starting from the depth of 80 m the descent and ascent was conducted in the “close-open valve” regime. 

My Tech Diving Geography. Baltic Sea (Estonia, up to 75 m), Palau (up to 90 m), Dahab (up to 110 m), Lot (France, caves), Ordinskaya (caves), Yucatan (caves, up to 65 m, open water), Cuba (caves, open water), China (caves).
I take every opportunity to dive. In different conditions and water reservoirs. I love soft corals and can spend hours watching a fish at the depth of 10 m. I like caves and walls. I don’t like wrecks at all, though I have dived many of them. I love the Baikal best of all. I am regularly making deep air and trimix dives. I am looking for and exploring new dive sites. Together with Gennady Misan we are carrying out our long-term project Lake Baikal Dive Sites Map.
It is never too late to learn.
Having 2,500 dives experience, most of which are made in very severe conditions, I am not of the opinion that I know everything and that I can get any certificate without working on it. I honestly took the courses, spending time and money to get each of my qualifications. Apart from the courses I take for my personal development in diving and the courses I teach, I make it a point to dive “for myself” and “at my own expenses”. Sometimes it is quite costy. Each deep dive requires the purchase of gases, finding the time (it means declining some other projects) and a boat rental. I believe this is the only way to gain experience and excel in my skills.
All of the above-mentioned enabled me to work out my own way to deep diving and organise The Baikal School of Tech Diving together with Gennady Misan. If you want to dive safe and deep - you are welcome to my master class. There will be no easy diving or relaxation. We are here to teach you how to dive SAFELY in the most difficult conditions. Survive in an extreme situation.
How is my master class different from that of Gennady Misan’s? I allow more freedom on the stage of making a dive, however, my requirements to following the procedures are much stricter.