David Rose
Active member
The first post-pandemic Projecto Espeologico Sistema Huautla (PESH) expedition has just come to an end and I can announce that this great cave, the deepest in the Americas and the the joint ninth deepest in the world (tied with the WUG Pot - Hirlatz system) at - 1560 m, is now around 101 km long. About 12km of new passage was explored and surveyed this year. The difficult Nita Nashi cave was connected to the main system at a depth of around 600 m.
Britons Rostam Namaghi, Martin Hoff and myself took part. We had a great time with a terrific bunch of US, Mexican, Canadian and Irish cavers, co-led by veterans Bill Steele and Tommy Shifflet, both of them legends of American caving.
Further good unexplored leads remain. In the last days of the trip a new cave with a huge borehole leading to an undescended 25 m pitch was pushed, and will almost certainly connect in due course. New extensions were made to Cueva Elysium, well to the north of the known parts of the system, although the dye-tested Huautla link for now remains elusive. Another new cave near Elysium is Nita Miyo, left open with several excellent leads. A nearby mountain with high entrances plainly visible could turn out to be the key to adding to the Huautla system's depth.
Another trip is planned for next year.
Britons Rostam Namaghi, Martin Hoff and myself took part. We had a great time with a terrific bunch of US, Mexican, Canadian and Irish cavers, co-led by veterans Bill Steele and Tommy Shifflet, both of them legends of American caving.
Further good unexplored leads remain. In the last days of the trip a new cave with a huge borehole leading to an undescended 25 m pitch was pushed, and will almost certainly connect in due course. New extensions were made to Cueva Elysium, well to the north of the known parts of the system, although the dye-tested Huautla link for now remains elusive. Another new cave near Elysium is Nita Miyo, left open with several excellent leads. A nearby mountain with high entrances plainly visible could turn out to be the key to adding to the Huautla system's depth.
Another trip is planned for next year.
