Descent (204)
October 2008
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
For many years the restricted depths of Wookey Hole have challenged cave divers, who have successively added a few metres to the record books. To everyone’s surprise, though, a dive in Ireland has smashed the record for the deepest cave dive in the British Isles, now over 100m below the earth and open and ongoing.
Playing Russian Roulette
With one fatality and another serious incident due to ‘bad air’ occuring in recent months, this is a timely warning of what to watch out for underground.
Sores for Charity
Surely, only an idiot would contemplate the exhaustion and pain of climbing a mile of rope by SRT – but the spur was to raise money for charity. Enter (multiple) trips up Titan during some of the wettest of British weather.
Gear Review: Freeloader Charger
Recharging batteries when there is no mains electricity can be difficult on expeditions, but perhaps a solution lies with using solar power.
Revealing Gaping Gill
Surveying using a laser is not the cheapest or fastest method of depicting a cave, but the 3D results are stunningly effective.
Overground Underground ...
For a long time the hype was building, then came the fourth European Speleological Congress – and from the far side of the world, a national caving event in New Zealand!
The Bottom Line: On Knowing Gibberish When I Hear It
The inestimable Alan Jeffreys returns with another of his occasional and apposite series on aspects of caves and caving. This time periphrasis, prolixity and even prescriptivism come to mind ...
Cavers’ Hairy Ancestors
With much effort expended in filming an archaeological cave dig, what claims were made in the ensuing programme?
Cover: Tony ‘Badger’ Radmall in Ogof Draenen’s entrance series. Photo: Paul ‘Footleg’ Fretwell
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