Underground Everest
In the last unexplored territory on earth, a new world record is being set this summer…
Deep in a flooded cave system in northern Spain, some of the best divers in the world will be attempting the world’s longest cave dive.
Going further into the cave than Everest is high, more than 8.825km. (5.4miles). It’s easier to get to space than the end of this cave and less people have been here than have landed on the moon.
They will have to stop to decompress for hours at a time along the way and sleep in air spaces they find as they dive.
This is such an extreme expedition, that they will have to design and develop their own kit. Nothing can afford to fail. Rescue is not an option.
The Record
The team will be diving Pozu Azul “the blue hole” in Northern Spain. They have been exploring the cave system for several years and have penetrated 8.8km (5.5 miles) underwater so far, 25 meters short of the full height of Everest. Their aim for this summer is to beat that and break the record. The previous record was a 4.8 mile cave penetration in Wakulla Springs, Florida.
The Location - Covanera
Covanera is a small Spanish town that has bought into the whole expedition and taken the team to their hearts. In particular Carlos and Tere Rodrigues of Bar Munecas allow the team to set up camp in a field by their Bar and host the post dive party.
There is a football field in a nearby village which is believed to lie directly above one of the airspaces in the cave and the team hope to set up comms from here, if so, this could be very visual.
Deep in a flooded cave system in northern Spain, some of the best divers in the world will be attempting the world’s longest cave dive.
Going further into the cave than Everest is high, more than 8.825km. (5.4miles). It’s easier to get to space than the end of this cave and less people have been here than have landed on the moon.
They will have to stop to decompress for hours at a time along the way and sleep in air spaces they find as they dive.
This is such an extreme expedition, that they will have to design and develop their own kit. Nothing can afford to fail. Rescue is not an option.
The Record
The team will be diving Pozu Azul “the blue hole” in Northern Spain. They have been exploring the cave system for several years and have penetrated 8.8km (5.5 miles) underwater so far, 25 meters short of the full height of Everest. Their aim for this summer is to beat that and break the record. The previous record was a 4.8 mile cave penetration in Wakulla Springs, Florida.
The Location - Covanera
Covanera is a small Spanish town that has bought into the whole expedition and taken the team to their hearts. In particular Carlos and Tere Rodrigues of Bar Munecas allow the team to set up camp in a field by their Bar and host the post dive party.
There is a football field in a nearby village which is believed to lie directly above one of the airspaces in the cave and the team hope to set up comms from here, if so, this could be very visual.
Underground Everest from Greg Atkins on Vimeo.
The Team
It’s a little known fact that Britain produces some of the world’s best cave divers. The core team is made up of three British divers and one from Holland. They are ably supported by a team of experienced and dedicated Spanish divers who help with the logistics of setting up the underwater camp at the beginning of sump 2.
The three Brits, Jason, Rick and John are also world renown rescue divers, sent at a moments notice, to help fellow caver divers in trouble. In 2004, when six British soldiers were trapped in a Mexican cave by floodwater, Rick and Jason were the two divers flown out by the British Government to rescue them. Rick and John have been nominated for Royal Humane Society medals for their efforts to rescue a diver in the Ardeche region of France.
The lead Divers and central characters:
Jason Mallinson – 43, From Huddersfield. By day – a rope access expert. As if diving in caves wasn’t thrilling enough, Jason earns a living scaling office blocks, supermarkets, football stadiums and huge trees. If you need work doing somewhere high up – this is the man to call. Jason is the team leader and returns in 2011 to Pozu Azul for the 10th year running. This is indeed his Everest.
Rick Stanton – 49. From Coventry – Has been cave diving for 25 years. and holds the UK record for the deepest cave dive ever, over 222m (728ft). And if that wasn’t risky enough, he’s got a day job as a fire fighter. Rick also remodels his diving equipment in his living room in his spare time.
John Volanthen 39 From Bristol – The only one with a desk job. He runs an IT business and uses his technical skills to great effect for the team. Last year he developed a mapping system allowing the team to chart the course of sump 2. Having spent 6 months improving the device, he hopes to map the length of sump 3 this year.
Rene Houben 40 from Holland - Has been diving for in excess of 15 years and earns a living as a commercial diver in the North Sea and cave dives as a serious hobby. He made the initial exploration into sump 3 in 2010 (not long after surfacing from a 5.5 hour dive through sump 2) to ascertain if there was useable air-space beyond Tipperary. In the event he laid 1000 meters of new line, which is an astonishing amount of line to lay by one person on a single dive. At this point he held the European cave diving distance record. This set the bench mark for the push dives the next day, when a further 2650 meters of new passage was explored by John, Jason and Rick.
Production Talent
DOP and Technical Director – Rob Franklin.
Rob has over 20 years experience filming in some of the toughest locations in the world – from arctic to desert and mountains to oceans. He is a highly experienced cave diver and his underwater photography is second to none. Clients include BBC, National Geographic and Discovery. His films have won many awards including 2 RTS awards, an Emmy Citation and a BAFTA.
David Perez, Underwater Cameraman
David is a freelance cameraman and editor with over ten years experience working on adventure films for Spanish TV. He is a very experienced cave diver and has been a support diver on the Pozu Azul project since 2006
Natalie Spanier, Executive Producer – Has worked with Rob on several projects over the last 15 years. She has produced a number of expedition films for both the Discovery Network and the BBC, many in extreme locations. She has also produced many big “event” programmes including live science events for the BBC Science department.
Greg Atkins, Producer/Director – A specialist at getting the best out of people and telling their stories in an observational style. He also has multiple big event experience. ‘The Race’ is of particular note, a round the world super-maxi cat yacht race. It was not only an extreme event but also used cutting edge technology to deliver amazing sound and vision, which included live streaming of interviews from the worlds ocean.
Stills courtesy of Martin Farr
Pozu Azul 2010 footage courtesy of David Perez