Krubera Cave

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.