News

From "Czekolada" to "Inka" in order to exceed 10 km

The author characterises his exploration done in Śnieżna Studnia cave (the Czerwone Wierchy massif, the Western Tatra Mts.) during the last year. He carries out exploration mostly during solo trips. He explores mainly the deep series of the cave, below the Studnia Czekoladowa pitch. Newly discovered passages are situated below the formerly known Promenada Słońca passage and lead towards the Sala Inka chamber. They are about 750 m in length. Thus, the total length of the cave exceeded 10 km.

New vertical extent of Wielka Śnieżna cave

Cavers from Bielsko-Biała explored the series near the entrance to Wielka Litworowa cave, which is the upper part of Wielka Śnieżna cave
(the Czerwone Wierchy massif, the Western Tatra Mts.). They started from a small chimney (+ 6 m above the entrance level) and discovered
a passage leading to the north. Voice communication was established between the newly discovered passage and a small cave named Szczelina
nad Wielką Litworową and situated several meters higher. The exploration stopped at the level + 16 m. It means that the new vertical extent of Wielka Śnieżna, the deepest cave in Poland, is 824 m.

New connection in Kochanów area (Sudetes)

At the turn of November and December 2003 cavers from Wałbrzych connected two caves: Jaskinia z Filarami and Jaskinia Prosta. The cave is now the second longest in the Sudetes (the total length 540 m).

New cave in the Beskid Śląski Mts.

In April 2003 a new cave was discovered in the Polish Flysch Carpathians. It was explored between June and November. Its length exceeded
500 m and the cave became the second longest cave in the region. Its depth is -25 m.

New entrance to Zimna cave

Cavers, mostly from STJ KW-Kraków, have searched for an upper entrance to Zimna cave for many years. In the beginning of 2003 they found and passed through the new entrance which is located at 1295 m a.s.l. in the Organy massif (the Kościeliska valley, the Western Tatra
Mts.). The entrance leads to the so-called Partie nad Łukami.

How Michał Żebrowski become a caver

In autumn 2003, a new full-length featured film was shot. The main character was performed by famous Polish actor n Michał Żebrowski.
The screenplay was written by a caver - Wojciech Kuczok - and the main character is also a caver. Some parts of the film were shot in the
Tatras, also in some Tatra caves. The team of cavers from Dąbrowa Górnicza, Kraków and Warszawa, assisted during the film production.
Marcin Koszałka, who was a caver in the early ninetieths of last century, was a camera man. The film will be distributed in the middle of 2004.

Expeditions

Kanin 2003

In August, the fourth expedition organised by STJ KW-Kraków carried out exploration in the Kanin massif (Slovenia). Tomasz Tomaszek
was the team leader. Eight cavers took part in the expedition. They tried to pass the very narrow meander at the bottom of cave
KR-18 (-166 m). Caves labelled BC-4 was discovered and explored to the depth of -105 m. The cave seems to be very promising but some
narrow squeezes must be widened before the further exploration. Moreover, several earlier known caves were surveyed.

Caves in marbles - Norway 2003

Four cavers from Kraków, led by Marcel Nawrot, went to Norway at the turn of July and August 2003. They explored the area of the Kalvintden
mountain (1054 m) near Morsvikfjord. They discovered a cave called Tęczowa (Rainbow) developed in a marble lens. The cave has several entrances and its total length is about 500 m. Several new cave entrances were recognised in the Middagsfjelet massif on the opposite side of the fjord. Later, the Poles took part in a speleo camp, organised by Norwegian cavers and aimed at surveying Tjoarvekrajgge n the longest Norwegian cave. It is located about 120 km north of the town of Bodo. After the camp the total length of the cave reached 16685 m. The team was about to explore cave Brattilgrotta near Mo i Rana but the exploration was stopped by an unfortunate accident. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured.

"Czesanka" pit in Mała w Mułowej Cave, ph. A. Antkiewicz

Tatra Mts.

Jaskinia Kozia - some news from 2003 and.... 1999

Some small discoveries were done in Jaskinia Kozia (the Czerwone Wierchy massif, the Western Tatra Mts.) near the so-called "2nd" bottom. The length of the newly explored series equals 155 m. After summing up the effects of the cave survey done up to now the new length of the cave is now 3470 m.

On the "Twarda Ściana" rock-cliffs, ph. T. Snopkiewicz

Discoveries in the Twarda Ściana rock-cliff

Cavers from Kraków (mainly members of the KKTJ club) for several years have searched for new caves in the area of the Kozi Grzbiet ridge in the Dolina Mułowa valley and the Dziurawe rock-cliff (the Western Tatra Mts.). In May and June 2003 they explored relatively inaccessible cliffs called Harnasiowe Czuby and Twarda Ściana. The explorers descended several times from the top of the rock-cliffs finding four new caves. Some of the entrances were earlier observed from the cliff base. Jaskinia Zapylna, with length of 25 m and depth of 12,5 m, is the longest discovered cave.

"Twarda Ściana" cliffs from "Wielka Świstówka" cauldron, ph. T. Snopkiewicz
c ave entrances: A - NIespodzianka, B - Pod Płytą, C - Zapylna, D - W Harnasiowych Czubach, 2 - Studnia w Dziurawem, 17 - Studnia Za Murem, 18 - Studnia w Kazalnicy, 19 - Zielone Kominy, 20 - Górne Kominy, 21 - Schron nad Kominami

Continuation of Mała w Mułowej cave

In 2002, cavers from Nowy Sącz explored Jaskinia Mała w Mułowej (the Czerwone Wierchy massif, the Western Tatra Mts.) down to -
361 m. In July 2003, they explored a window in the upper part of the Anka pitch at the level about -65 m. A new, westward going, series
was discovered. The series includes a 130 m deep pitch named Studnia Czesanka n one of the deepest pitches in the Tatras. Below the
pitch, a stream called Nil (The Nile) enters the series. The series continues along the stream through small pitches and cascades down to the Syfon Sądeczoków sump at - 440 m. During subsequent exploration trips a bypass passage was discovered and the more than -500 m
was reached.

Mała w Mułowej section - click on the picture for bigger version

The Jura

Inventory of caves in the area of Częstochowa

The article deals with caves located in the northern part of Polish Jura (Kraków-Częstochowa Upland) between the village Biskupice and Częstochowa. The author presents the division of the area and a list of surveyed caves. Ninety four caves are located in the described area.
Moreover, there are five caves inaccessible or destroyed during quarrying. The longest cave is Jaskinia Koralowa (337 m) and the deepest
is Jaskinia Studnisko (-77.5 m) which is also the deepest cave in Polish Jura. The history of exploration, surveying and scientific research in
the caves is also presented in the article.

"Fakro" chamber in Mała w Mułowej Cave, ph. J. Nowak

The author describes two new caves found in Pogórze Wielickie (Wieliczka Foothills). One of the caves was probably mentioned as
early as in 1876 by A. H. Kirkor and in 1878 by A. Gruszecki in the article entitled "About caves between the Tatras and the Baltic sea"
which has been regarded as the first Polish cave inventory. The cave was subsequently forgotten and was mentioned in other inventories
and lists of caves only on the basis of the earlier description. The cave is 20 m long and is developed in flysch sandstone.

The authors characterise abandoned adits in the Miedzianka hill near Chęciny (the Holy Cross Mts.). Copper ore was exploited there from
the Middle Ages up to the early 20ies of the 20th century. The last episode of exploitation was just after the Second World War. Apart
from copper also lead, arsenic, antimony, silver and gold were exploited as by-products. Some natural voids were encountered during the
mining operations. Now, some parts of the adits are accessible for tourists and cavers and other parts are filled with water. Cave divers
from Speleoklub Warszawski visited the water-filled adits twice, in 1999 and in November 2003. More than 200 m of adits were accessible
for diving. The maximum depth equals 17 m at the bottom of the artificial shaft "Piotr". Clay deposits accumulated on the adit bottoms
dramatically reduce water transparency just after the passage of the first diver.

Cave protection

Jakub Nowak and Jan Urban discuss the possibilities and methods of cave protection. The former author concentrates on some technical
problems related to installation of bars and gates in cave entrances. The latter author considers the possibilities of involving cavers in cave
protection and co-operation of cavers with state, regional and national park authorities.

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Last change 2004.01.28