Lithuanian speleologists will dive into the world's deepest cave | The Lithuania TribuneThe Lithuania Tribune

Lithuanian speleologists will dive into the world’s deepest cave

At the end of July, 2012, an incredible adventure awaits fifteen Lithuanian speleologists – one of the biggest speleology clubs in the Baltic countries “Aenigma” are (for the fourth time already) organizing a trip to the so-called “Bottom of the World” or “the Underground Everest” – the deepest cave on Earth, lrt.lt writes. Maybe this time Lithuanian diver will manage to break the world caving depth record?

Located in the Range of the Western Caucasus, The Krubera-Voronya Cave is the deepest known cave on Earth. Its depth is parallel to almost seven Vilnius TV towers (– 2191m ± 9m). So far only a few tens of people have managed to reach the bottom (– 2140m), some of whom where Lithuanians – stated the press release.

In the earlier “Aenigma” expeditions to “the Bottom of the World” on the wall of the “Two Captains” sump a memorial sign marking the Millennium of Lithuania’s Name was mounted. Also, a Lithuanian Saulė Vaš (then – Saulė Pankienė) broke world women caving depth record.

This year the Lithuanian team along with speleologists from Ukraine and other countries will spend more than two weeks in the darkness, dampness and cold trying to reach the unexplored part of the cave – the depths of the “Two Captains” and break a new world caving depth record.

‘Diving in the cave waters, called sumps, is one of the most dangerous of extreme sports in the world. Since the lowest parts of the Krubera-Voronya Cave are filled with water, new world caving depth record can only be reached by a person who is a very skilled diver,’ said the leader of Lithuanian team Aidas Gudaitis. ‘This year three divers are prepared to dive into the sump: a Lithuanian, a Russian and an Ukrainian. The Lithuanian Vytis Vilkas, being the most professional and most experienced, gained the priority to dive in first, thus we hope he will reach more than 2191 meters depth.’

Lithuanian expedition “Towards the Centre of the Earth 2012″ is part of a bigger international project “The Call of Abyss” organized by the Ukrainian Speleological Association (UkrSA), which has been exploring Krubera-Voronya cave for more than thirteen years.

Translated by Aistė Saulytė

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One thought on “Lithuanian speleologists will dive into the world’s deepest cave”

michael walsh on 3 July, 2012 at 20:41 said:

How brave they are. My first hope is that they will be successful and return safely. The second that it will be televised so we can share in their achievement. It is sad that, in a world without values, highly paid footballers are celebrated as heroes whilst all too often, the achievements of men and women, whose heroic credentials have few equals, go largely unnoticed.