Pavel Demidov

[Alex]

Not a British caver, but he is one of the great explorers of our time responsible for leading the expedition that pushed Verjovkina to the bottom making it the deepest cave in the world.

He has sadly died in a caving accident in a different cave and his team are requesting funds to help recover the body.

http://www.scintilena.com/incidente-in-abkazia-muore-pavel-demidov-esploratore-della-verjovkina-la-grotta-piu-profonda-del-mondo/08/25/#sthash.2AdzfEk7.dpbs

 

[Subpopulus Hibernia]

Such a pity. From reading the two-part account of the exploration of Verjovkina published in Descent last year I got the picture of a man totally dedicated to exploration. A sad way to go, but a fitting monument to him lies in the form of Verjovkina.

Ar dheis D? go raibh a anam.

 

[Ian Ball]

Thank you Alex, how do we contribute to the recovery fund?  I'm afraid I'm not worldy enough to understand the article?

 

[Alex]

Not entirely sure I am afraid Ian, I assume it's by bank transfer online or using something like Moneygram. It looks like its some kind of credit card. Past experience of trying to pay someone in these kind countries has been fraught with difficulty in my experience. Perhaps someone with better knowledge of these things can help.

The payment details they provide are:

Sberbank card: 4276160974320021 Natalya Sergeevna S. or on Raiffeisen card 4476246137009573 Sizikova N.

 

[A_Northerner]

I hope the rescue efforts are a success and don't further endanger anyone's lives. Although I don't know details of his misfortune, surely anywhere dangerous enough to claim Pavel must be a severely difficult place to rescue from. Best of luck to all involved.

 

[ian.p]

There is now a pay pal acount set up im sure they can use all the help they can get:

UPDATE: PayPal account is linked to e-mail: zver-speleo@rambler.ru

I think this is the best method for international donations the other acounts stated are intended for internal Russian donations.

 

[aricooperdavis]

I found Robbie's presentation at the BCRC Conference last year absolutely mind blowing - Pavel was clearly one of the true explorers of our times. Good luck to the team, that's a hard thing to have to do.

UPDATE: PayPal account is linked to e-mail: zver-speleo@rambler.ru

I think PayPal has blocked their account as currently PayPal won't let me pay them. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

 

[ian.p]

I think they are having some problems with the acount reaching its receiving limit.

 

[PeteHall]

I think they are having some problems with the acount reaching its receiving limit.

That's got to be a positive thing!

 

[Benfool]

It worked for me last night, so keep on trying!

B

 

[JoW]

There is now a just giving page as well, though they do say to use the other methods if you can to avoid fees https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/paveldemidov?utm_term=DWrRW7yaz

 

[kravietz]

I'm routinely doing money transfers to Russia using TransferWise and it's reliable and relatively cheap (I have an account there as it makes payments during my expeditions in Caucasus easier). PayPal won't work, they won't be able to withdraw the money, only spend them on eBay or something like that (last time I checked).

More information about the accident here (in Russian):

https://nat-geo.ru/adventure/speleology/v-abhazii-pogib-rossijskij-speleolog-pavel-demidov/

What I was told is that they found a meander continuing down under a boulder choke. Pavel was hit a by a large boulder falling down from either the choke, or the top of the pitch. Obviously, body recovery is tricky as they have to first stabilise the whole thing so another tragedy doesn't happen.

National Geographic Russia also published a large piece on Arabika by Robbie Shone:

https://nat-geo.ru/adventure/speleology/kak-vyzhit-vo-vremya-udarnogo-pavodka-v-samoj-glubokoj-peshere-mira-vspominaet-fotograf-national-geographic/

There's also a pretty up to date article on Wikipedia about Pavel Demidov:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Evgenjevi%C4%8D_Demidov

 

[kravietz]

Pavel Demidov's body was raised to the surface last night and will be transported to Russia in due course. RIP.

 

[Alex]

The full announcement is:

OFFICIAL CAVEX TEAM COMMUNICATE (12)
Throughout today, Tuesday, September 1, the seventh day of the rescue operation has been developed in the Integral Sima [p. situada], located in the ?? New Cave ?? sima area [[. N?? Kejv] (Arabian Massif, Western Caucasus, Gagra Region, Republic of Abkhazia), CAVEX Team exploration area.
As our colleague Andrey Shuvalov communicates, the evacuation to the surface of the body of Pavel Demidov has just successfully completed. We are scheduled to evacuate tomorrow in an MChS MI-2 helicopter (Ministry of Emergency Situations Situaciones = po Situaci?m Situaci?m) from the Republic of Abkhazia. In the end, unfortunately, it has not been possible to count on the help of the Russian MChS.
Of course, we insist once again that the rescue operation will not be terminated until each and every member of the operative returns home.
Once again, we appreciate your continued support in these difficult times we are going through.

 

[Ian Ball]

Great effort that is.

 

[rhychydwr1]

A good obituary covering Pavel's life:
Descent (277) 32-35, 10 photos.
Descent (271) and (272) cover an interview with Pavel.  There is an report of the fatal accident in Descent (276)

see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Evgenjevi%C4%8D_Demidov