The cave, previously explored by cavers from Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk to -1570 m, has now been made
almost 200 m deeper, to reach depth of -1760 m and become the second deepest cave in the world.
The expedition led by Pavel Rud’ko has been carried out between September 1st – October 7th, 2011. The main branch has been pushed to -1760 m after breaking through a narrow meander at the old bottom.
almost 200 m deeper, to reach depth of -1760 m and become the second deepest cave in the world.
The expedition led by Pavel Rud’ko has been carried out between September 1st – October 7th, 2011. The main branch has been pushed to -1760 m after breaking through a narrow meander at the old bottom.
Many side and ascending passages in other parts of the cave have been also explored. The expedition performed systematic temperature measurements, and speleobiological and microbiological sampling.
With its new depth figure, Sarma surpassed the Illjuzia-Mezhonnogo-Snezhnaya system (-1753 m), located in the nearby Bzybsky Massif, and became the second deepest cave in the world, following Krubera Cave (-2191 m) located in the same massif. Thus, the western Caucasus now hosts three deepest caves in the worlds, two of them in Arabika Massif and one in Bzybsky Massif.
Exploration History of Sarma cave
| 1990 | A group of Irkutsk speleoclub "Arabika" led by Osintsev Alexander found an entrance to the cave and explored one branch down to -280 m. The leading team included: Osintzev Alexander, Alekseev Sergey, Shipitsin Sergey, Arshonov Aleksander. The exploration stopped because limited time of expedition. | |
| 1991 | A group of Irkutsk speleoclub "Arabika" under the figurehead of Osintsev Alexander explored another branch down to -250 m. The most active cavers were Osintsev Aleksander, Levashov Sergey, Unagaev Viktor, Viktorovskiy Alexander. It was very hard exploration in difficult conditions of narrow passages full with water. | |
| 1991 - 1999 | Few expeditions were canceled because of the war in Caucasus area. | |
| 1999 | A group of Krasnoyarsk speleoclub led by Plotnikov Vladimir explored new branch of the cave down to -250 m. It was a very important result as it has explored a new passage that has opened new possibilities. | |
| 2000 | A team of Krasnoyarsk speleoclub (leader Burmak Igor) and Irkutsk speleoclub "Arabika" (leader Osintsev Aleksander) explored cave from - 250 m down to -750 m. During two weeks the cavers discovered a remarkable part of the cave, including 250 m shaft. | |
| 2001 | In August a group of Krasnoyarsk speleoclub led by Burmak Igor explored cave from -750 m down to - 1100 m. | |
| 2001 | In September a team of Krasnoyarsk speleoclub, Irkutsk speleoclub "Arabika" led by Plotnikov Vladimir and Osintsev Aleksander explored cave from -1100 m down to -1530 m. The exploration was stopped because shortage of ropes. | |
| 2002 | In October a team of Krasnoyarsk speleoclub, Irkutsk speleoclub "Arabika" led by Plotnikov Vladimir and Osintsev Aleksander explored some additional extensions of the cave. |
