Polish Activity abroad:

Picos 2002

An 15-man team from Wroclaw and Kielce, led as usual by Marek Jedrzejczak, went to the Picos de Europa in August 2002. The western part of the mountains (El Cornion) was the goal of the expedition. During several trips they explored the cave labelled B-12. The cave was discovered by a Polish expedition last year and explored up to the depth of -404 m. This year the entrance to an unknown pitch was found and the cave was deepened to -703 m. The length of the cave reached 1803 m. The cave was connected with the Sistema del Canalon de los Desvios, and so the system reached the depth of -733 m. Apart from activity in B-12, several smaller caves were explored. The depth of -325 m was reached in the cave labelled D-9.

Goll 2002

Polish cavers visited the Göll massif (Austria) twice in 2002. Firstly, four cavers went to the massif in April. They intended to descend a very deep and spacious pitch called Studnia Przelamanych Lodów (Broken Ice Pitch). The pitch walls are partly covered with ice. Exploration in summer is impossible due to huge ice blocks fallen from the walls. Unfortunately, the snow cover began to melt during the expedition and great amount of water flowed into the cave. It made the access to the pitch impossible. Another team consisting of 10 cavers and led by Zbigniew Rysiecki came back to the massif at the turn of July and August. The main aim of the expedition was the cave Schartenschacht. It was discovered by Poles in 1994 and deepened to - 694 m in 2001. During the 2002 expedition the cavers achieved a boulder chock at the depth of -794 m. The high amount of water in the cave after a heavy rainfall made further exploration impossible.

Autumn expedition to Romania

Five cave divers led by Rafal Garski went to the Bihor Mts. in September 2002. They dived in three resurgences. Two of these - Izbucul Galbenei and Biserica Scoachii were previously explored by Hungarian divers, but the information about the cave topographies was not very precise. The Poles dived the wide and comfortable first sump in the former cave, and three sumps in the latter. The resurgence Izbucul de la Tauz was visited too. A hitherto unknown horizontal passage was explored, ca. 60 m long and situated at the depth of -85 m. During the expedition a fatal accident happened. Rafal Garski died while diving in Izbucul de la Tauz.

Autumn in Silvertip

In September, an 8-man team went to the USA. They trained with American cavers. The single rope technique and rescue action were practised. The training was done indoor and on rock cliffs. There was an exchange of techniques and skills between Polish and American cavers. After the training, the Polish team went to the Bob Marschall Wilderness (the Silvertip massif) to explore some caves.

Tatra Mts

Mała w Mułowej - some important information

The author presnts the description and the history of explorationa of Jaskinia Mała w Mułowej. In July 2002 the cavers from Nowy Sącz commenced the exploration of Jaskinia Mała w Mułowej (the Western Tatra Mts.). This small, 11 m deep cave has been known since the sixties of the 20th century. The cavers went through the squeeze at the cave bottom and discovered the new narrow series, which led to the level of -60 m. Lower, the cave consists of spacious pitches and chambers. The depest pitch is 110 m deep. There is the biggest chamber in the Tatras. It was named Sala Fakro. It is 85 m long, 40 m wide and 30-60 m high. The cave was surveyd up to the depth of -361 m. Below this point the explorers managed to go to the small chamber. The further progress down is possible.

Exploration beyond the sumps

In winter 2002/2003 efforts were continued to explore the passage situated beyond the sumps in Wielka Sniezna cave. A vertical rapid stopped exploration in 1999. In January, after rigging the cave, exploration was renewed. Wiktor Bolek and Michal Gignal dived through the sumps Krakowski and Magdy, climbed up the rapid and explored upstream the passage. A next, narrow sump stopped them.

Sudety Mts.

The caves in the Rudawy Janowickie Mts.

The author described six caves situated in the Rudawy Janowickie Mts. (the Sudetes). All caves formed in granitoides due to mass movements. The cave called Jaskinia w Fajce is the longest one ( X m long).

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