Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

2012-Hidden Earth-Imperial College Caving Club

Jarvist Moore Frost
September 23, 2012
260

2012-Hidden Earth-Imperial College Caving Club

We presented some of our findings from the Sledi Vetra 2012 Expedition to Tolminski Migovec at the BCRA conference (Hidden Earth) in Burnley.

Press Release:
This summer Imperial College Caving Club discovered the longest cave in Slovenia during their Sledi Vetra 2012 expedition.
The Imperial cavers have organised joint expeditions with the local Slovene club (JSPDT) to the mountain of Tolminski Migovec since 1994, with more than 80 Imperial students having contributed to the discovery. Every year they explored deeper and further into the mountain, the main discoveries being two large and deep cave systems (System Migovec and System Vrtnarija), both notable caves in their own right. A further 2000 m of cave passage was discovered this summer, leading to the connection of these two cave systems at a depth of 650 m.

The combined cave system is 24.9 km long and 975 m deep. The deepest point was found this summer where the cave passage leads down into an extensive crystal clear flooded section. The vast majority of such long cave systems in the world are shallow and warm, which greatly eases their exploration. The Migovec caves are deep, extremely vertical and cold, requiring a high degree of technical skill and physical endurance.
Tolminski Migovec is on the edge of a major thrust complex, the Slatna overthrust, with steeply dipping faults cutting and offsetting the thrusts. A complex series of faults and folds have led to extremely complicated cave formation in the Triassic limestone, the computer model of the mountain's cave passage looking like a piece of shattered glass. Understanding the hydrology of the mountain is significant as it is the watershed of the Adriatic and Black Seas.

Deep exploration is made possible by the team remaining underground for 3-4 days at a time, sleeping over 600 metres below the surface of the mountain. As well as the physical challenge, they have had to innovate in developing new methods and techniques - for instance in climbing with a lightweight cordless drill adapted for caving and fitted with external batteries recharged by solar power.

The connection of these systems, and the discovery of the longest cave in Slovenia has been the major effort and activity of the Imperial cavers for the last five years. But the exploration of Migovec is certainly not over - every new passage reveals a new place within the mountain, and no one can possibly tell what will lie around the next corner.

Jarvist Moore Frost

September 23, 2012
Tweet

Transcript

  1. System Migovec / Vrtnarija: The Longest Cave in Slovenia Jamarska

    Sekcija Planinskega Društva Tolmin (JSPDT) Imperial College Caving Club (ICCC) System Migovec / Vrtnarija: The Longest Cave in Slovenia
  2. The Aeons of Migovec Exploration 1970s and 80s – JSPDT

    working alone (M2, M16) 1994-1999 – Imperial Join Them & System Migovec 2000-2005 – Gardener's World Vrtnarija 2007- 2012 – Vrtnarija & Kavkna Jama
  3. JSPDT '70s: M2 Kavkna Jama (Blackbird Cave) Explored with SRT

    Home made: descenders + jammers 3kg carbide lamps (empty) WWI Explosives Recovered from Shells
  4. 19

  5. 20

  6. Vrtnarija: 2000: 393 m deep 2001: 574 m deep 2002

    (No Expedition): Experience, logistical hurdles 2003: 747 m deep - u/g camps 2004: 802 m deep
  7. Maslow's Heirachy of Needs: (adapted for cavers) • Toilet •

    Drink - water to start with! • Food • Shelter • Heat • Fuel • Electricity • 3G
  8. 2007: The Next Generation Rebolt M1, M6 Hawk Cave Stag

    Cave Moth Cave Monatip Planika Jama U-Bend – Primadona Kill'em All
  9. 2008: Rebolt + rig M2 to -350m Bounce Trips (15hrs+)

    'Captain Kangaroo' / Vrtnarija pushed to -335m [we stopped as we were below the bottom of M2...] Exploration (downwards) M2 continued in winter
  10. 2009: Metal Camp 2009: Metal Camp (-254m) (-254m) 1 degree

    Celsius 1 degree Celsius 1-2 night camps 1-2 night camps
  11. 'Plenty Comfort' Camp Rotating 2x2-person 'hot bedding camp' Mostly 2-night

    3-day camps (2 work days) → 12-cavers continuous @ full capacity
  12. 2009: 'Republica Palma de Coco' 2010: 'Insomnia' 58m vertical extension

    (4m more needed to be deepest part of cave) 2003 'Red Cow' 2009 'Republica' Downstream Sump (perched) Can see 30-odd metres down rift + cascades
  13. 2x AA-battery Fairy Lights 2x £1 Slippers (Primark) New Toothpaste

    Hiding Location '4-season' (isobutane) Gas Stove 2011 Innovations
  14. Insomnia: The Deep Wet Lead • ~4—5 hr return from

    pushing front camp → • (Insomnia -802m Day Dreamers -861m → → Penguin's Egg -871m Winter's Journey → -888m) • Confined passage with stream (wet feet!) [Not a good place to be during a rain storm] • Great 'Yorkshire' Caving
  15. Water Table at +890m Sea Level ? Winter Journey (2011)

    Pencil Sump Water Hope Good not Grand (Blind Bedding) Wonderstuff / Earthquake Way
  16. Did Someone Mention the Connection? • Vrtnarija to Kavkna Jama:

    25–75m separation • Connection has been major aim since 2008–
  17. Many leads Sumps – static (but changing water level?), perfectly

    clear, deep and very very blue Only two trips here – further exploration requires a 2nd camp Watership Down - -900m Vrtnarija
  18. 'Apollo' to the 'Milky Way' 2010: Queen's Bedchamber Found 2011:

    Two Trips bolt climbing 2012: Two further bolt climbing trips 40 8mm rawl bolts (?) 2 Force-Ten tent poles used as mud belays Total Achieved: +28m
  19. Just wander into System Migovec? Waterloo original sketch On the

    last pushing trip... Of the last camping trip... “So altogether, it was a very lucky pushing trip; I originally wanted to do the traverse at the top of the Apollo climb to get to the other side of the phreatic, but the cable of the drill broke, so we decided to have a look at this passage. One instance when a broken cable helps :)) ” - GA “...in 98 they came from Waterloo chamber, they saw the pitch and dropped down it... Had they climbed up 1 m on the ledge and walked a further 2 m, they could have found all the horizontal developments below Cheetah...”
  20. Cave Geek Stats • 5181 survey stations, 4305 legs •

    18 km plan / 12.4 km vertical • All large loop closures are 1-2% error • (most in horizontal) • As we have inexperienced surveyors & purely hand instruments, we can only assume that the Central Limit Theorem is on our side!
  21. 2012 Achievements 2.666 km of new passage (all below -500m)

    11.0 km Vrtnarija + 11.8 km SysMig → 25.5 km System Migovec (Longest in Slovenia! 8) Postonjska Jama: 20.570 km Spacious sumps 972 m deep and accessible Leads multiplied, but also further dispersed
  22. Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4 0 2

    4 6 8 10 12 Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
  23. 2013... ? We will almost certainly be returning Rebolting System

    Mig -300 -600m a → likelihood Camp where? Suddenly in a position to answer lots of unknowns from the 90s at -600m SysMig Lots to do @ 7-900m deep in Vrtnarija
  24. 2013... New Caves Four (non current IC!) NPC members came

    out and looked properly at the surface... Need some experience to judge which of 100s of potential surface digs + small caves are worth the effort. 'Kuk Pot' now a going concern North of Kuk
  25. Acknowledgements 2012 Ghar Parau Foundation & Alex Pitcher Awards Imperial

    College Union – Transport Grant Beast – Underground Camp Comf (2009) Kelly Kettle [We didn't burn it, honest.] JSPDT, PDT & Triglav National Park ~100 cavers over 15 years!