The results of the expedition to the cave Krubera-Voronya

It is already three weeks when the last participants of the expedition to cave Krubera-Voronya have come back. This cave is the deepest cave in the world and is located in the west Caucasus Mountains. Please excuse us for such a long silence but the returners were overwhelmed by all the things undone. After all some of them were away for a whole month...

So, everybody’s returned sound in life and limb, tired and satisfied. The results of the expedition:

-         The data from data loggers measuring water level, air pressure and temperature was successfully taken. Primary data analysis surpassed all expectations: during floods the water level at the sump Two Captains located in the bottom of the cave at the depth of 2140 m can rise up to more than 200 meters, submerging on the way all the lower part of this branch of the cave.

-         New loggers: temperature logger in the entrance pit and rain logger on the surface were installed. The latter logger in the future will allow to determine the dependency between the rain on the surface and the floods in the cave.

-         The exploration of the Spanish Branch located at the depth of 1340 m was finalized.

-         Some specimens of cave insects were found and taken to examine. One of the largest was a about 5 cm long centipede found in the Spanish Branch.

-         Most members of the expeditions reached their own depth goals: 9 members of the expedition reached the depth of 2080 m – the pit Game Over that is the deepest point accessible for a non-diver caver. Though on the way it one sump has to be free dived. 4 divers passing on their way three other sumps reached the depth of 2140 m – the beginning of the sump Two Captains. One of them – Lithuanian Saule Pankiene - is the first woman who has been there.

-         During this expedition various equipment was tested in the extreme cave environment. New ideas for solving ecological problems of the cave were tried. Time will show if they serve their purpose.

Later we promise to put more detailed reports and photos, don’t forget to check the news!

This expedition is supported by European Speleological Federation (FSE) as one of the EuroSpeleo projects and is sponsored by:
Sati (service), Gandrs (equipment), Petzl (speleological equipment), Optimus (Nova stoves), Beal (rope), Aventure Verticale (transport bags), Scurion (caving light), Vilnius Heart Surgery Center (medicine), Canon (photo camera), Expedition.lt (equipment), Waterra (loggers), Speleological Union of Ireland (financial support), Duracell (batteries).