An international team of divers have returned from an expedition to the Pozo Azul cave system in Spain. The group, with cave divers from UK, Spain and The Netherlands were able to pass last years endpoint.
During a 15 day campaign they were able to extend the cave for another 500 meter to a total of 9685m of which 9135m has to be done diving, a world record.
The group was able to pass the third sump (about 260m from the limit set last year), and followed a streamway for about 180m, before reaching another sump, sump 4. This new passage is nasty terrain: razor sharp rocks, with 27 cascades for a total vertical distance of 10 - 15m to reach Sump 4, wich remains undived due to the fact that they were unable to move all their heavy equipment to here.
Pictures of the expedition can be found on the respective facebook page, along with a gallery of all participants.
A British-led cave diving team just broke a record by completing a 5.5 miles (8.85 kilometers) dive in the Pozo Azul cave system near Covenera in northern Spain. Explorers Rick Stanton, Jason Mallinson and John Volanthen and Dutch cave diver Rene Houben completed a 50-hour journey to explore the system. The team did camp for two nights in a small dry cave area behind sump two and explored several new tunnels.
They were able to better a record set by an American team that ventured 25,591 feet (7,800 meters) into a cave system in Florida. The British team did not only have to deal with the psychological effects of being 28,953 feet (8,825 meters) from the nearest exit, but also with water temperatures of 52 degrees (11 degrees Centigrade).
Rick Stanton was one of the lead explorers of Wookey Hole Caves, a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole. Over the years, he and other British cave divers did set depth record after depth record in the system near Wells in Somerset, England. In 1977, Martyn Farr reached 148 feet (45 meters), followed by Rob Parker in 1985 (223 feet/68 meters), and John Volanthen and Rick Stanton. The later team did reach 249 feet (76 meters) in 2004, and 295 feet (90 meters) in 2005.
Jason Mallinson is also a very experienced British diver. In 2008, Mallinson and Phil Rowsell explored BU56, a deep cave system in the Spanish Pyrenees that was discovered was once regarded as the deepest cave on the planet.
Rene Houben is an IT specialist from Groningen in the Netherlands. He did explore the Doux de Coly Cave in the Dordogne region of southern France in June 2010. He did also set a previous record exploring Pozo Azul when he and John Volanthen reached 14,419 feet (4,395 meters) in the cave.
An excellent YouTube video shows a different team exploring the Pozo Azul cave system in 2008 is available here:
An international team of divers have returned from an expedition to the Pozo Azul cave system in Spain. The group, with cave divers from UK, Spain and The Netherlands were able to pass last years endpoint.
During a 15 day campaign they were able to extend the cave for another 500 meter to a total of 9685m of which 9135m has to be done diving, a world record.
The group was able to pass the third sump (about 260m from the limit set last year), and followed a streamway for about 180m, before reaching another sump, sump 4. This new passage is nasty terrain: razor sharp rocks, with 27 cascades for a total vertical distance of 10 - 15m to reach Sump 4, wich remains undived due to the fact that they were unable to move all their heavy equipment to here.
Pictures of the expedition can be found on the respective facebook page, along with a gallery of all participants.
A British-led cave diving team just broke a record by completing a 5.5 miles (8.85 kilometers) dive in the Pozo Azul cave system near Covenera in northern Spain. Explorers Rick Stanton, Jason Mallinson and John Volanthen and Dutch cave diver Rene Houben completed a 50-hour journey to explore the system. The team did camp for two nights in a small dry cave area behind sump two and explored several new tunnels.
They were able to better a record set by an American team that ventured 25,591 feet (7,800 meters) into a cave system in Florida. The British team did not only have to deal with the psychological effects of being 28,953 feet (8,825 meters) from the nearest exit, but also with water temperatures of 52 degrees (11 degrees Centigrade).
Rick Stanton was one of the lead explorers of Wookey Hole Caves, a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole. Over the years, he and other British cave divers did set depth record after depth record in the system near Wells in Somerset, England. In 1977, Martyn Farr reached 148 feet (45 meters), followed by Rob Parker in 1985 (223 feet/68 meters), and John Volanthen and Rick Stanton. The later team did reach 249 feet (76 meters) in 2004, and 295 feet (90 meters) in 2005.
Jason Mallinson is also a very experienced British diver. In 2008, Mallinson and Phil Rowsell explored BU56, a deep cave system in the Spanish Pyrenees that was discovered was once regarded as the deepest cave on the planet.
Rene Houben is an IT specialist from Groningen in the Netherlands. He did explore the Doux de Coly Cave in the Dordogne region of southern France in June 2010. He did also set a previous record exploring Pozo Azul when he and John Volanthen reached 14,419 feet (4,395 meters) in the cave.
An excellent YouTube video shows a different team exploring the Pozo Azul cave system in 2008 is available here:
