Daniel Rose
Member
Kameno More 2026
This year the UBSS and friends are heading to the Kameno-More region of Montenegro to explore the region’s caves.
Brief History
This region has seen exploration by various European clubs over the years, including a few with notable British involvement: In 2009 and 2010, a multi-club expedition pushed Pistet-4 (PT-4) – a cave discovered by a Serbian expedition in 1999 – to its terminal sump at -455m. An attempt was made at diving the sump, but it was judged to require a more serious dive than initially anticipated and hence remains unpassed. One noteworthy pitch in PT-4 also remains undescended, though the potential in the cave is minimal at this point, and it is not likely that we will revisit it on this expedition.
PT-4, as with the various other caves in the region (some of which, such as Kozi Dira, are deeper than -600m), features extensive vertical and horizontal development – big pitches and huge chambers filled with mesmerising sand dunes. Though not the target of this expedition, the cave acts as a microcosm representative of much of the Kameno-More karst. The entire Orjen massif is a large area of swiss-cheese karst which has significant potential for further discoveries.
Our Aims
Instead of revisiting the various nearly-concluded caves of Kameno-More, this expedition will focus on discovering new caves in the region. This means that there will probably be many days of unfruitful prospecting, descending the entrance shafts that litter the region, exciting false elation at the ‘discovery’ of new cave, only to find old anchors shortly after, confirming that such descents constitute mere rediscovery of pre-explored passage.
On top of this, we have been warned that organising an expedition to Kameno-More involves more effort than many consider to be worthwhile, with one Kameno-veteran describing the area as, ‘too much work for too little reward’. Dealing with the region’s dense forest cover, limited water supply and ‘terrible mosquitos’, will certainly prove a nuisance, especially considering that the discovery of any significant cave is far from guaranteed.
Still, the same can be said for much of the world’s limestone, and major discoveries rarely occur without some degree of ‘trying your luck’ at something you don’t know will pay off – indeed, the same can be said for much of life, speleological or not. We have a committed (almost radically so), group of students and young alumni who are meeting up weekly in Bristol to coordinate targets and logistics, and the area is dotted with fantastically huge coastal resurgences that have to be fed by something – some percolation, sure; but there is significant cave development here, and we judge it to be worth pushing further.
The expedition will take place from mid August to early September.
The ‘Sopot Resurgence’ - one of many in the area.
This year the UBSS and friends are heading to the Kameno-More region of Montenegro to explore the region’s caves.
Brief History
This region has seen exploration by various European clubs over the years, including a few with notable British involvement: In 2009 and 2010, a multi-club expedition pushed Pistet-4 (PT-4) – a cave discovered by a Serbian expedition in 1999 – to its terminal sump at -455m. An attempt was made at diving the sump, but it was judged to require a more serious dive than initially anticipated and hence remains unpassed. One noteworthy pitch in PT-4 also remains undescended, though the potential in the cave is minimal at this point, and it is not likely that we will revisit it on this expedition.
PT-4, as with the various other caves in the region (some of which, such as Kozi Dira, are deeper than -600m), features extensive vertical and horizontal development – big pitches and huge chambers filled with mesmerising sand dunes. Though not the target of this expedition, the cave acts as a microcosm representative of much of the Kameno-More karst. The entire Orjen massif is a large area of swiss-cheese karst which has significant potential for further discoveries.
Our Aims
Instead of revisiting the various nearly-concluded caves of Kameno-More, this expedition will focus on discovering new caves in the region. This means that there will probably be many days of unfruitful prospecting, descending the entrance shafts that litter the region, exciting false elation at the ‘discovery’ of new cave, only to find old anchors shortly after, confirming that such descents constitute mere rediscovery of pre-explored passage.
On top of this, we have been warned that organising an expedition to Kameno-More involves more effort than many consider to be worthwhile, with one Kameno-veteran describing the area as, ‘too much work for too little reward’. Dealing with the region’s dense forest cover, limited water supply and ‘terrible mosquitos’, will certainly prove a nuisance, especially considering that the discovery of any significant cave is far from guaranteed.
Still, the same can be said for much of the world’s limestone, and major discoveries rarely occur without some degree of ‘trying your luck’ at something you don’t know will pay off – indeed, the same can be said for much of life, speleological or not. We have a committed (almost radically so), group of students and young alumni who are meeting up weekly in Bristol to coordinate targets and logistics, and the area is dotted with fantastically huge coastal resurgences that have to be fed by something – some percolation, sure; but there is significant cave development here, and we judge it to be worth pushing further.
The expedition will take place from mid August to early September.
The ‘Sopot Resurgence’ - one of many in the area.
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