I am retired from the Mathematics Department at Auburn University. One
of my colleagues, Andras Bezdek, had a Masters Degree student, Gergely
Ambrus, who is a serious Hungarian caver. Ambrus returned to Auburn to
give a talk about his trip to the deepest cave in the world. I have
copied, below, the abstract of the talk and a link to the images.
....... Sam Young
Gergely Ambrus ( Professor, Budapest Semesters in Mathematics) Title:
Inverse Everest - Expedition to the deepest cave in the world.
Abstract:
In August 2016, a handful of Hungarian cavers descended into the
deepest cave in the world, the Krubera-Voronya cave located in Abkhazia
(former Georgia). Their goal was to make professional photographs of
the cave for the first time in history. During the one-month-long
expedition, the expedition members spent 16 days underground. Their
longest trip, leading to the depth of 6800 ft, took 9 days. The
expedition, co-ordinated by National Geogpraphic Hungary, was led by
Gergely Ambrus, a former Auburn graduate in Mathematics. The deepest
point of the cave have been reached by far less people than the summit
of Mount Everest.
In this talk, Gergely is going to present what a complex task
organizing and leading such an expedition is. Starting months before
the summer, the group had to find sponsors, make travel plans, purchase
the necessary equipment both for caving and for the underground
photography. Their endeavour started already before the expedition
itself: a week before they intended to travel, the Russian army closed
the border checkpoint of Abkhazia, therefore getting to the location
was already complicated. He is going to describe what material and
equipment is needed to withstand the extreme conditions. During their
time underground, all their gear was constantly wet, due to the
numerous cascades in the pitches. The temperature of the cave had been
constantly around 35 F. The explorers carried with them three tackle
sacs per person, weighing about 70 lb. They had to descend sometimes in
500-ft deep pitches, or in passages completely filled with water.
Several times, the expedition members got into danger due to floods or
worn out equipment and ropes, and they had to solve these issues
instantly on the spot.
Gergely is going to present a compilation of photographs and videos
taken during the expedition, showing us what this unique underground
world looks like. He will also talk about the scientific aspect of the
expedition: the group has completed several underground biology,
geology and measurement project
Here are the images - text in Hungarian:
http://index.hu/nagykep/2016/09/13/inverse_everest_bar/
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