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Thread ID: 123874 2012-03-21 23:37:00 Worlds largest cave Gobe1 (6290) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1266299 2012-04-23 12:22:00 The photos are fantastic. It looks like a really impressive and fascinating place. KellyJM (16726)
1266300 2012-04-24 12:54:00 Finding the largest cave is challenging but its also a subjective judgement. Largest wet cave, largest dry cave, largest horizontal cave, largest cave system...??

I've been to Carlsbad Caverns (near Area 51 funnily enough) and they are impressive. Huge.

Anyway if you'd like to read a bit more check your library for "Blind Descent" by James Tabor. It describes explorers going into the deepest caves on Earth. I'm a bit claustrophobic so I cringed my way through the pages and had nightmares for some time. Cavers are bizarre risktakers. They die. Not too often but they do die. Underwater. In the dark. Sod that!! :D
Winston001 (3612)
1266301 2012-04-24 23:37:00 The longest cave in NZ is currently over 60km (Bulmer Mt Owen) and still going, the deepest is 889m (Nettlebed Mt Arthur) and if it does link up with Stormy Pot which is still being explored as it was only found 3 years ago it will take Nettlebed to over 1200m deep gary67 (56)
1266302 2012-04-24 23:45:00 Finding the largest cave is challenging but its also a subjective judgement . Largest wet cave, largest dry cave, largest horizontal cave, largest cave system . . . ??

I've been to Carlsbad Caverns (near Area 51 funnily enough) and they are impressive . Huge .

Anyway if you'd like to read a bit more check your library for "Blind Descent" by James Tabor . It describes explorers going into the deepest caves on Earth . I'm a bit claustrophobic so I cringed my way through the pages and had nightmares for some time . Cavers are bizarre risktakers . They die . Not too often but they do die . Underwater . In the dark . Sod that!! :D
Cavers in general do not die in caves, cave divers are a whole different breed and I don't know any caver in NZ who is a cave diver . Of all of the cave rescues done in Nelson only one (Mike Brewer 2006) was a caver all of the others have been idiots with no caving experience who have had to be rescued by us the cavers .

Harwood's hole with an entrance shaft free abseil of 176m attracts every idiot imaginable and is a very serious undertaking, we specifically train there as it is where most rescues take place . I wouldn't go anywhere near the top without a safety line, it takes 15-20 mins to abseil to the bottom yet you should see what I have seen there .

Hippies sitting on the edge legs hanging over sharing a spliff . Me rigging the pitch on a safety line turning round (the take off ledge is only 100mm wide) to see a tourist 1m away taking my picture and there is nothing to hold onto hence the safety line we always rig before anything else . I could go on but you might cringe more
gary67 (56)
1266303 2012-04-25 03:11:00 The longest cave in NZ is currently over 60km (Bulmer Mt Owen) and still going, the deepest is 889m (Nettlebed Mt Arthur) and if it does link up with Stormy Pot which is still being explored as it was only found 3 years ago it will take Nettlebed to over 1200m deep

Actually Gary, Kieran and company have pushed NZ's first cave to over 1000m just recently, within the last year. You must have missed the news release. Kieran is also a cave diver and helped push the sumps in the Riwaka Resurgence.

Winston, your attitude is to be encouraged! Caving in NZ is carried out by a relatively few people and this means less pressure on the cave resources of NZ. It would be a sad state of affairs if caving was popular and numerous groups wanted to visit the same cave at the same time (as happens in Britain where some caves are gated to control entry). At least with caving, the environment can be predicted mostly and prepared for (except for flooding). Mountaineering would seem to be a more dangerous activity with the risk of avalanches and inclement weather. Maybe it is because it is more in the public spotlight than is caving. There have only been three deaths of cavers in NZ that I can recall, including one cave diver (Dave Weaver). There have been other deaths of people in caves but they can't be regarded as cavers, merely as people visiting caves (two occurred in Cave Stream near Porters Pass) or jumping into Harwood Hole.
user (1404)
1266304 2012-04-25 05:01:00 I know Kieran quite well and also my neighbour who was on the last expedition a couple of months ago told me and he should know because he was doing the surveying that they were actually just short of 1000m once the data had been plotted gary67 (56)
1266305 2012-04-25 05:07:00 I know Kieran quite well and also my neighbour who was on the last expedition a couple of months ago told me and he should know because he was doing the surveying that they were actually just short of 1000m once the data had been plotted

Ahh, so the press release was a little premature. That nugget of information didn't find its' way into the media. Thanks for the update.
user (1404)
1266306 2012-04-25 05:23:00 Gary, so this article isnt correct right? www.stuff.co.nz
So are they still exploring it, or is it done?
Iantech (16386)
1266307 2012-04-25 07:07:00 As far as I'm aware it's not done and the depth is just shy, that article was from 2010 and there has been a lot of work done in there this year gary67 (56)
1266308 2012-04-25 07:08:00 One of our Nelson cavers has been involved in the eploration

What's an eploration .... keeping the "x" out of it for the young'uns are we Gary ???
SP8's (9836)
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