David Rose
Active member
Many cavers will have read James Tabor's enthralling book Blind Descent, which describes the true-life, mano a mano contest between Bill Stone and the Russians to find the world's deepest cave.
Along the way, he introduced the concept of 'supercaves', holes so deep that they present a set of uniquely dreadful perils: 'Drowning, fatal falls, premature burial, asphyxiation, hypothermia, hurricane-force winds, electrocution, earthquake-induced collapses, poison gases and walls dripping sulphuric or hydrochloric acid.'
Now, I can reveal, taking up his lead, six of the world's leading caving clubs have formed a 'superleague' to continue this competition. Generous sponsorship from Petzl, Aventure Vertical and MTD means that their members will be able to turn professional - and so have the time to become a new, honed elite of underground explorers, with the skills and funding to inaugurate a new golden age of speleology.
Whisper it not: two British clubs have been selected for this lucrative honour, the Wessex Cave Club and, fittingly, the venerable Yorkshire Ramblers Club, bearers of a proud tradition dating back to 1892.
Watch this space for more news, and congrats, everyone. And commiserations to those that didn't quite make the cut - Imperial College (deemed by the organisers to be 'too nerdy for TV' and SWCC, who apparently failed on the grounds that 'their hut is so big they don't need the money'.
Along the way, he introduced the concept of 'supercaves', holes so deep that they present a set of uniquely dreadful perils: 'Drowning, fatal falls, premature burial, asphyxiation, hypothermia, hurricane-force winds, electrocution, earthquake-induced collapses, poison gases and walls dripping sulphuric or hydrochloric acid.'
Now, I can reveal, taking up his lead, six of the world's leading caving clubs have formed a 'superleague' to continue this competition. Generous sponsorship from Petzl, Aventure Vertical and MTD means that their members will be able to turn professional - and so have the time to become a new, honed elite of underground explorers, with the skills and funding to inaugurate a new golden age of speleology.
Whisper it not: two British clubs have been selected for this lucrative honour, the Wessex Cave Club and, fittingly, the venerable Yorkshire Ramblers Club, bearers of a proud tradition dating back to 1892.
Watch this space for more news, and congrats, everyone. And commiserations to those that didn't quite make the cut - Imperial College (deemed by the organisers to be 'too nerdy for TV' and SWCC, who apparently failed on the grounds that 'their hut is so big they don't need the money'.