Cave Exploration

Caving is the sport and science of exploring caves. Although it has gained reputation as an extreme sport in recent days, purists refrain from identifying caving with other more popular extreme sports such as whitewater rafting or snowboarding due to the common assumption that extreme sports are activities that foster the disregard for danger to life and limb.

Various organizations throughout the world today advocate caving – or speleology – as a pastime and science, and fund various caving expeditions held throughout the year. But what’s so enticing about this new sport – or science, call it what you want – is that it puts one in close contact with nature at its rawest form, the last, unexplored areas of the planet we all live in.

The difference

In general, caving utilizes various skills such as walking, swimming, and climbing, but the scientific aspect of it relies more on well-thought planning. Usually, a serious scientific expedition is drafted months before the actual expedition itself, and the whole process tends to involve a huge load of equipment and instruments for measurement and study.

The same holds true for recreational cavers, with some differences. These people go spelunking (the act of caving) for the sheer thrill and enjoyment that can be gained from the activity, which transforms spelunking into a sort of sport. The educational and empirical aspect of the activity is not present in spelunking as a sport.

In general, the activity is very mentally and physically exhausting, since it involves plenty of strenuous physical activity. The risk of injury is high, since most of the caves throughout the world have not been fully explored. Strict rules are adhered to by spelunking groups, such as the number of functioning light sources carried by each person – a minimum of two per person – the amount and tensile strength of ropes, and the number of people in a group (the minimum here is four – for safety reasons. If any one of the expedition should get injured, one will stay with the injured member, while the other two would make their way out of the cave to get help).

Equipment

Spelunking requires a lot of equipment, depending on the cave and its condition. Stock up on food and clothing, first-aid kits and tools needed for the expedition, since spelunking usually takes up long stretches of time away from the closest form of civilization.

Most caves are muddy and slippery, so proper boots, ropes and hooks were necessary equipment. Some caves, called vertical caves, required machines like winches and cranks to move people up and down safely and with ease.

Each member of an expedition is required to have at least two different lamps with plenty of batteries, since caves tended to be naturally devoid of light. Some caves actually require special lamps, due to the phosphorus content in some tunnels and shafts, which could instantly be set on fire with a single spark.