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OK, before people start saying why the hell would you do such a sport. Not the same but similar - I did caving for a big part of my childhood until I was 20. I

by kfk 10y ago

OK, before people start saying why the hell would you do such a sport. Not the same but similar - I did caving for a big part of my childhood until I was 20. I miss it. The connections you build with the people you do this are very strong, your life depends on it. The places you see are mind blowing - try running into a 60m dive after entering a small hole of maybe 30 cm of diameter, or visiting a room bigger than a stadium at -500m. And there is a certain romance around it - places with names from people that discovered them long ago, places yet to be found, old guys telling gone stories of exploration. Up in the mountains, maybe 1 hour from my old home back in Italy, there is still a search for a special entrance to a big cave system (runs 1 km deep) in order to do explorations also during the winter (a big lake inside the cave closes the "classic" entrance after summer), this search has been going on for 20+ years now, still searching.

callahad 10y ago
> visiting a room bigger than a stadium at -500m. Surely you mean -50m, right? :) Which system was that? It sounds lovely.
- visarga 10y ago
  It's not a cave, but it's big. It has amazing echoes. The Slanic Salt Mine in Romania: http://www.romania-actualitati.ro/files/poz%C4%83%20222.JPG http://www.romania-actualitati.ro/files/poz%C4%83%20222.JPG
- kfk 10y ago
  -500m Check here: http://www.scintilena.com/speleoit/atlas/molise/pdn.gif http://www.scintilena.com/speleoit/atlas/molise/pdn.gif I got until the first P80. People camp close to this place few days to explore the part after that - here (remember, at -500m): https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bancacapasso.it%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F10%2FPozzo-della-neve2.jpg&f=1 https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bancaca.... Edit. Uhm, I think the guy in the middle is my father like 15/20 years ago, I have to ask him.
  - callahad 10y ago
    Ah, I read that you did "cave diving" not "caving" -- that explains it :) That does indeed look like a really fun system, thanks for sharing.
bad-joke 10y ago
I was part of a caving group for a while. Very interesting and friendly subculture. Mine had some overlap with hikers and a few were trained for rescue. I recommend finding one in your area if you can (not all areas are great for caves unfortunately) and are up for some unique experiences.

by kfk 10y ago

callahad 10y ago

> visiting a room bigger than a stadium at -500m. Surely you mean -50m, right? :) Which system was that? It sounds lovely.

visarga 10y ago
It's not a cave, but it's big. It has amazing echoes. The Slanic Salt Mine in Romania: http://www.romania-actualitati.ro/files/poz%C4%83%20222.JPG http://www.romania-actualitati.ro/files/poz%C4%83%20222.JPG
kfk 10y ago
-500m Check here: http://www.scintilena.com/speleoit/atlas/molise/pdn.gif http://www.scintilena.com/speleoit/atlas/molise/pdn.gif I got until the first P80. People camp close to this place few days to explore the part after that - here (remember, at -500m): https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bancacapasso.it%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F10%2FPozzo-della-neve2.jpg&f=1 https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bancaca.... Edit. Uhm, I think the guy in the middle is my father like 15/20 years ago, I have to ask him.
- callahad 10y ago
  Ah, I read that you did "cave diving" not "caving" -- that explains it :) That does indeed look like a really fun system, thanks for sharing.

bad-joke 10y ago

I was part of a caving group for a while. Very interesting and friendly subculture. Mine had some overlap with hikers and a few were trained for rescue. I recommend finding one in your area if you can (not all areas are great for caves unfortunately) and are up for some unique experiences.