Cave rescue in Germany

M

Martin Laverty

Member
There was an account,  "Riesending Passes the -1000m Mark" in Speleology, no 12, Summer 2008 It  included a survey showing that 4 camps had been used during exploration of a fairly typical alpine system of rifts, big shafts (up to180m), large phreatic tubes and steep, muddy mazes, at depth, and active streams.
 
O

Olaf

New member
http://www.vdhk.de/fileadmin/pdf/mitteilungen/Heft2-2011.pdf (p. 36-44)

It's German, but has nice pictures as well as a survey and elevation, and it shows the camp sites (Biwak 1-6). The subtitle to picture 1 says this sort of passages is typical "for the first few hours on the way down", which would make it a pretty bad place to be rescued from...

Curiously the first hit on google (http://www.lehmpfuhl.org/Html/Forschung/Riesending/Riesending.html) says this data is currently taken offline, "please respect the personal rights of the involved people as well as the copyrights to the pictures".
 
hoehlenforscher

hoehlenforscher

Active member
I was on the original exploration of the plateau in 1995 and may well have mapped the entrance to this cave since the potential was only discovered much later. I worked on a system only a few hundred metres from the Riesending which we took to over 400 m depth. It was the most difficult, narrow, rifty cold caving I have ever done. The name of the caver has not been released but it is a sure thing I know him well.  :(

Wish them luck, it is not looking extremely difficult at the moment.
 
hoehlenforscher

hoehlenforscher

Active member
Update. Better news today. Following a head injury sustained during a rock fall yesterday it was initially thought the rescue was going to involve a horizontal stretcher carry of an unconscious person from -1000m. Today, the injured caver has been able to stand for short periods and is able to speak again. There is now hope that he will be able to be helped out of the cave by the end of the coming weekend. If I hear anything new I will post up. Good luck J.
 
mr conners

mr conners

Member
Is the cave in the area where the salt mine is situated? I have a friend who lives in Trauenstein and we visit him regularly.
I hope he gets out alive.
 
H

hughpenney

New member
URGENT REQUEST:

I have just had a phonecall from Thomas Matthalm and they want to get a fully qualified doctor to the casualty. The doctor needs to be able to go to -950m in a hard but dry Alpine cave - please can everyone ask around any likely candidates and get them to phone me on 07939 003818 (I may not be at computer so phone best) - I can give details and put them in touch with Thomas who is now on the surface.

It would mean leaving straight away, probably tonight. They are desperate and have no doctors in Germany capable of doing the trip. He says it's a bit like a Yorkshire cave - just much much deeper.
 
hoehlenforscher

hoehlenforscher

Active member
If anyone wants an impression of the cave then this report was shown on German TV a couple of weeks back. The injured caver actually features in this program. There is other stuff on there (equally interesting) about salt mines and marmot holes but he cave features at the beginning and again roughly around 9 minutes in and again at 25 minutes. This is followed by a bit about cave diving in the Blautopf. Worth a watch even if you can't understand the lingo.

http://www.zdf.de/terra-x/terra-x-deutschland-von-unten-einblicke-in-deutschlands-unterwelt-erste-folge-land-32960962.html
 
G

Geoff R

New member
Does anyone know if the rescue team need additional manpower ?? 
I am right now working close to Munich and could, with Easyjet help, get my kit flown in tomorrow. 
The offer is there, but Im hoping they have enough local German speaking support. 
 
rhychydwr1

rhychydwr1

Active member
hoehlenforscher

hoehlenforscher

Active member
Update

a Doctor has finally managed to reach Johann (name is now in general use on TV) and has had a chance to assess the extent of his head injuries. It has been decided to stabilise him and to protect his head from any movement and to initiate a stretcher carry out of the cave. An indication of the severity of the cave was again shown by the fact that one of the cavers accompanying the doctor into the cave was unable to continue past camp 3 due to the difficulties he encountered. The casualty lies beyond camp 5. There is a special programme tonight on the Bavarian National TV I will watch and let you know if anything new develops
 
hoehlenforscher

hoehlenforscher

Active member
Latest news is that they expect the Casvac to take from 4-7 days now that all element are in place and Johann is not getting worse and will hopefully be able to give a small degree of self help in the most difficult sections. The rescue is already several days old and the cost are mounting, not least for all the heli drops being made. In Germany the casualty must somehow foot the bill for the complete rescue costs, even the cost of the Fire brigade being present!! Hopefully Johann has some insurance which may pay something towards it, but the German Cave Rescue Association is having a whip round just in case, with any money not used going in to the rescue coffers. So if anyone feels they could give something, even a couple of quid. please head to the following website where you will find a Paypal address to make donations.

Cheers

Mark

http://www.xn--stiftung-hhlenrettung-qec.de/index.html
 
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