Polish activity abroad

Lamprechtsofen - the world's deepest cave - A. Ciszewski

A Polish expedition linked the cave labelled PL-2 to Lamprechtsofen (the Leoganger Steinberge massif, the Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria) on 18 August. Nineteen cavers took part in it. Andrzej Ciszewski was, as almost always in the past, the team leader. The expedition explored Vogelschacht cave, which has been a part of Lamprechtsofen since 1995. The main aim was the big waterfall in chamber called Sala Deszczu (Rain Chamber) which stopped the former expedition in Vogelschacht. This year a lower water level allowed them to climb up. About 1200 m of a new series of meanders and pitches was discovered. The series led to the PL-2 cave - to the series called Wielkie Galerie (Huge Galleries) situated at about -400 m. The first team (W. Czesak, T. Fiodorowicz) which achieved the PL-2 cave did not realize this. Just lately, on 19 August, J. Kucmierz and A. Przenioslo traversed to the passage visible at the another side of the big pitch and recognized the Wielkie Galerie series. The new depth of Lamprechtsofen is 1632 m. Thus Lamprechtsofen has become the deepest cave in the world. This achievement crowns the 24 years of Polish exploration in the Leoganger Steinberge massif. Nearly 30 Polish expeditions carried out exploration in the massif during this years.
More about this expedition you can find here, in complete article.

This is actual section of all system

In Lamprechsofen Cave, photo: S. Kotarba

The final touch or how I linked to PL-2 - J. Kucmierz

The author took part in the second shift during the expedition to the Leoganger Steinberge massif this year. He describes exploration of Vogelschacht and its linking with the PL-2 cave. The first shift had ended exploration at the bottom of a 150 m pitch. The second shift traversed it and explored some galleries that led to a system of pitches. On 18 August the team W. Czesak and T. Fiedorowicz found an old spit there. On the day after W. Kucmierz, the author of this article, and A. Przenioslo traversed the pitch and reached the galleries in PL-2 cave. The linking of Vogelschcht with PL-2 became the fact.

White Pitch, Lamprechsofen cave - ph: S. Kotarba

News

Bats in the Tatras

Jakub Nowak and Krzysztof Piksa counted bats in the Tatra caves last winter. They found 504 bats in four caves. Jaskinia Czarna seems to be most important - 198 bats were found in it.

Avenul din Poiana Gropii, Romania, photo D. Bartoszewski - click on picture for bigger version

Lethal accident in Studnia Szpatowcow

A lethal accident occurred in Studnia Szpatowccw - a 37 m deep cave in the Krakcw-Wielun Upland. A young caver fell down from the head of a 19 m deep pitch during a training trip.

Göll-98 - Zbigniew Rysiecki

Exploration in Kamerschartenhöhle at the level of -500 m and linking Kamerschanenhöhle with Gruberhornhöhle were the main goal of an expedition to the G6II massif led by Zbigniew Rysiecki. The team consisted of twelve cavers. They discovered about 500 m of new series in Kamerschartenhöhle as well as about 50 m in the upper part of Gruberhornhöhle. But dozen of meters still separates both caves. Apart from that the expedition discovered two new 50 m long caves.


One of caves in Göll, photo P. Krzyszkowski

Exotic speleoholidays - Dariusz Bartoszewski

A 3-man team from Sopot went to Romanian caves. They visited karst area Resita-Moldouva Noua which occupies the area of about 800 km². More than 30% of all Romanian caves are located there. Polish cavers visited the deepest cave of the area - Avenul din Poiana Gropii (-236 m) and squeezy Avenul Bizonului (-101 m). Some caves situated in the valley of river Caras were visited too.


Pestera Liliecilor, canyon Caras, photo D. Bartoszewski
- click on picture for bigger version

Recconnaissance in the Kitzsteinhorn massif - Krzysztof Recielski

In winter 1998 a Polish team explored Feitchnerschachthöhle which became the deepest cave in the Höhe Tauern - see Jaskinie 3(10). In August a small recconnaissance to this massif brought about eight new caves. The biggest of them is 40 m deep and 100 m long.

Holidays on the sunshine side of the Alps - Michal Gradzinski

Seven cavers from Krakow spent holidays in Slovenia and visited several caves in the vicinity of Postojna. The short descriptions of Gradisnica, Krizna Jama and Dimnice caves are published in the article. The author recommends Slovenia as an ideal place for speleoholidays.


photo M. Gradzinski

Tatra mountains

The story of Jaskinia Strzystarska - Wojciech W. Wisniewski

Jaskinia Strzystarska is situated in Slovakia in the Bielskie Tatry Mts. It was discovered in 1979, but no map or description of it has been published earlier. The author catalogues all the references to this cave and presents the story of its exploration.

And still the stones live - J. R.

The author presents the description and sketch of Jaskinia Strzystarska, a cave 201 m deep, and 600 m long. It lies in a protected area and therefore the special permission is needed to visit it.

Section of Trzystarska cave, made from memory by J. R.
- click on drawing for bigger version

History

Caves in the Tatra Mts. in the works of B. Z. Steczynski - Wojciech W. Wisniewski

B. Z. Steczynski visited the Tatras several times during the last century. He knew about ten caves there and published his observations and impressions in 1847 and in 1860. He engraved the first illustration concerning a Tatra cave - the lithography of the entrance to the Jaskinia Wodna Pod Pisana.

Drawing by B. Z. Steczynski from 1847 - kars springs in Koscieliska Valley

Competision

The fifth speleo championship - Tomasz K. Pryjma

Janusz Chowaniec from HKTJ (Harcerski Klub Tatrenictwa Jaskniowego) won the fifth speleo championship which on the Skarzyce cliff in September 1998.

The Jura

Interesting discoveries in Jaskinia Komarowa - Wojciech W. Wisniewski

This summer geologists and archaeologists surveyed Jaskinia Komarowa (the Krakow Wielun Upland). They discovered many animal bones (for example three sculls of Ursus spelaeus) and some artefacts. Two human sculls seem to be the most important discoveries. The age of sculls is 20 000 - 33 000 years - the oldest human remains found in Poland.

Lamprechtsofen, ph: S. Kotarba

Dolina Dlubni

Three small caves are known in Dolina Dlubni (north of Krakow). The longest of them is 26 m long. The authors suppose that some parts of the cave have been widened during exploitation of limestones.

Jaskinia Wislana

The author describes a 54 m long cave situated in an old, abandoned limestone quarry in Krakow. The cave is systematically explored by the cavers who dig out the sand filling it.

Pestera Comarnic - Romania, photo D. Bartoszewski - click on picture for bigger version

The caverns in Krakow

A 100 m long cavern made by the Austrian army during the First World War is described. It is situated in Kostrze Hill in the western part of Krakow.

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Last change 1998.10.20