In CL-3 (1999), ph. Stanisław Kotarba

The last three years have witnessed a breakthrough in Lamprechtsofen exploration. In 1998 we were simultaneously looking for a possible link on both sides: from within the system, namely from Vogelschacht, and from PL-2. Plots of both caves indicated that the closest series of both caves were distant by no more than 20–30 metres. Unfortunately, a great north-going cleft in PL-2 has suddenly led to the base of huge chimneys, without any continuation straight ahead, which definitely dashed our hopes for making the connection soon. In 1998, I have decided to continue climbing in Sala Deszczu in Vogelschacht. After a couple of days I managed to get to a wide cleft which looked like a logical continuation of the southernmost part of the system. It led to a series of galleries with a strong draught and a stream. Exploration for nearly two weeks, during which we were all the time very close to PL-2, has brought about many surprises. The series was dissected by many chimneys and shafts, the biggest one deeper than 100 m and ying close to another equally great shaft that we knew in PL-2. Finally, after a series of very difficult climbs and traverses we were atop of another series of cascading shafts. Several descents, a tyrolian traverse and we suddeenly find our deposit of ropes on the access way to the camp in PL-2. So we have 1 632 m of vertical range and Lamprechtsofen becomes the world’s deepest cave system. The deepest and the most precisely surveyed, as due to its nature and the use of laser instruments in geodetic surveys of the entrance positions, the vertical extent between them is measured with precision of 3 cm.

photo: Stanisław Kotarba	A bivouac in Lamprechtsofen in 1980, the author second from the left, ph. Kazimierz Szych