Executive summary by darmansjah
The deepest cave on Earth
GEORGIA it was ‘like climbing an inverted
Mount Everest,’ one explorer said after descending into Krubera Cave. It’s an
apt comparison: Just as Everest is the World’s highest point, Krubera is the
deepest explored cave. It burrows into the Arabika Massif, a high limestone
region near the Black Sea in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia republic. In 2004, a
team run by the Ukranian Speleological Association set a depth record by
reaching a sandy chamber, dubbed Game Over, at 6,824 feet (2,080 m) below the
entrance. In 2007, another Ukranian team dived into one of the cave’s
water-filled pits to a new depth of 7,188 feet (2,191 m). and when the
exploration was over, the path out was a 7,000-foot (2,134 m) climb back up.
Dark Descent
Roped and ready, Masha Basovskaya prepares to descend
another 330 feet (100 m) into Krubera Cave. The explorers rigged almost two
miles (3 km) of rope through the cave’s passages.
Elbow Room
The Big Cascade, the largest pit in the cave, is 499 feet
(152 m) deep but still 4,921 feet (1,500 m) from the bottom of the narrow,
winding cavern.
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