(Gallery below with 3D images! )
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We have decided years ago that we will visit caves in the Alps more often. We planned to go around new year’s eve to the Sisma cave in Italy. I’ve been in this cave before, it very attractive with its 600 meters depth, and also easy to reach, because the entrance is located near the ski lift and the Gilberti lodge.
Finally we left Budapest on the 29th december 2015 to Sella Nevea with four of us. We wanted to be there at thr opening of the ski lift so we left at 2 in the morning.
Our small group at the entrance of the cave
We found out on the internet that the weather is quite unusal for december, according to the forecast sites, there was literally no snow, and the temperatures were over zero. In real life it was freezing, so the ski lift was working, and the cold air draft dried the cave, which made trip comfortable despite the 2°C temperature in the cave.
We were very well prepared for the trip, we practiced rope climbing on the days before, we were ready for all kinds of weather, we packed warm clothes, tools to extract snow and ice, loads of spare Li-ion batteries, even old carbide lamps. Of course we also took the DSLR camera, flashes and high power led lamps for photoshooting. I could test my custom made sleeping bag, which proved to be extreme warm, but almost filled one big expedition bag. Viki and Farkas took some book to study for the upcoming exams on the university. We needed some ropes too, we brought 350 meters with us. In the end we carried two bags per person.
Jégsztalagmit a bejárat közelében
The lack of snow and the unusual warm temperatures made our job easy (last time the snow at the entrance was around 6 meters deep), we did not have to dig the snow, and the cave was frozen only for 50 meters of depth. So after a few minutes we arrived to the cave, we reached the top of the 300 meters deep chasm.
Lower part of the 300m chasm
This 300 meter chasm (280m exatly) is the largest individual space in this cave. It is not unique (there is a 650m deep shaft in Slovenia nearby, the “Vrtrglavica”) but with its 10 meter diameter is really impressing even for an experienced caver. On the other hand this part of the cave was really easy to pass, only thin we had to do was climbing on the rope. It was easier with the bags than in the horizontal passages.There are 24 rope sections alltogether, so we could stay close, where we could see and hear each other. The wall of the chasm is solid rock, there is no chance to make a break in climbing.
Bedroom at -500m deep. We slept really deep.
It was reassuring to see that I remember the cave well, so we reached the bivouac place without a problem. This place is really comfortable, there were some leftover foam sheets and the air humidity was under 100%, so we could sleep on dry clay. Even there was a natural water flushed toilet nearby. The only problem (besides the 2°C temperature) was that the water was at the bottom of a 10 meter deep shaft.
For supper we opened a rusty food can we found there. It was cabbage with tomato sauce, and tasted really good.
The night before I only slept one hour, so it wasn’t hard to fall asleep. When I woke up (it was late evening by outside, but it was irrevelevant down there) I was completely relaxed. In the cave you can not hear the passing cars, the neighbour mowing the lawn, the only noise is the water dripping. Your phone doesn’t ring, don’t have to go to work, there are no deadlines, facebook and the news don’ make you mad. There is only you, your friends and the cave, so for me it was like heaven.
On the next days we made 8-10 hours long trip in the cave system. It was much easier to move without the heavy bags, so it was real fun. We took a lot of pictures and 3d photos. We stopped in the rooms with good acoustics to sing (Adam is an organ player, and Farkas studied music composition) For meI it was definetely much more relaxing than every day life.
We celebrated new yers eve with palinka (fruit brandy), and left a glass for sacrifice to the following cavers. We also cooked special supper, from various instant foods, and caviar.
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We started our ascend on the 2nd of january, after a short sleep. We had to time our action to reach the surface at daylight. There wasn’t any problem with the climbing, but it wasn’t easy in the tight passages to move the heavy bags.
As we approached the entrance of the cave, we coul feel that the temperatures dropped outside, the cold air draft got stronger, and small icicles formed on the walls. Luckily the snow had not arrived yet, so got out pretty easily in just under 13 hours.
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It was 3 PM, until we packed everything, it got dark, and the ski lift was closed. So we had to walk down on the ski track. We sat on the bags, and slided down to the parking lot, we had to loose 700m of vertical level.
Our next job was to drive back home to Budapest, wich wasn’t easy on the dark icy roads. It was 2 in the morning when we finally arrived.
3D images: (cyan- magenta glasses needed)
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Selected images in the cave(2 pages!)
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Images from the surface:
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