We wish a happy birthday to all DZRJL members and sympathizers!

Translated and posted by Primož Jakopin July 7, 2020, after the Slovenian version, posted by Primož Presetnik May 17, 2020

Translated and posted by Primož Jakopin July 7, 2020, after the Slovenian version, posted by Behare Rexhepi April 4, 2020

Translated and posted by Primož Jakopin July 7, 2020, after the Slovenian version, posted by Uroš Kunaver March 19, 2020

Translated and posted by Primož Jakopin July 7, 2020, after the Slovenian version, posted by Primož Presetnik March 4, 2020

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, 11 February 2020 at 6 pm at the Department of Biology, Večna pot 111, Ljubljana

Lecturer: Rudjer Novak. The lecture will be in Croatian.

Welcome!

Translated and posted by Primož Jakopin July 7, 2020, after the Slovenian version, posted by Uroš Kunaver February 4, 2020

You already know the good and the bad news. Perhaps I should write a few more details. We gathered at the traditional bar in Zgornje Gorje at 8 am. The plan was for two teams. Špela, Jure, Vid, and Matevž would go to Didiland and to some leads in Prim’s Labyrinth. Matic, Dave, and I would go through the Curse of Dimensionality to the end of the world (or thereabouts). I will report mainly on the second team, because I still don’t know the details about the first.

The gravel road was snow-free up to the gate where we parked. Around 10 am we arrived at the cave, and, after some fear and trembling, we went in around 10:30 am. I have to say that it really was nice to be in Evklid once again. You don’t find such a cave just anywhere. At Prpa, Dave discovered that he had no descender. He went 100 m back, through Aksiom o vzporednici, where he found it by the last rope and then quickly returned. Well, we all know that Dave really likes Evklid. I think he just wanted a reason for a bit more suffering.

Around 1 pm, if I remember, we stopped at the only nice place in Curse of Dimensionality for a snack. These last parts of the cave really are nasty. Squeezes and moisture without end. The boys and girls were definitely persistent while I was away. After our snack, we widened two squeezes to the size of one DiBa and went ahead to the last survey station of the previous exploration. There were two options. The most obvious option was down at the bottom of a breakdown chamber, where there was a bit of space between the walls and rocks. The second option was to go up again, 180 degrees back, exactly parallel with the passage leading into the room. On Saturday the airflow was very weak, because the outside temperature was near cave temperature. Dave said that last time there was strong airflow there. The direction was strange, but the air doesn’t lie. You could also see blackness on the other side. The only problem was that we needed to dig upward into the breakdown. It wasn’t clear how much might fall on our heads if we started to move the rocks. With a bit of help from our Third Member, the worst part fell down (we were in a safe place). Dave cleaned up a bit and climbed through. It had looked like a big room on the other side, but it was actually a dome. Luckily, we had a good climber with us, and after a few minutes Dave was on top. He rigged a rope and the two of us followed.

I was on the rope when I heard, “Passage! It goes! A lot of water!” and similar things emerging from the mouth of the climber. Matic and I quickly followed and saw that the passage ended as a window in the middle of the wall of another, larger passage. Quite a bit of water was flowing out of a dome and into a canyon passage below the window. Matic and I started to rig, and Dave went back for more rope. The first pit was about 10 m and quickly led to a second (15 m). After 10 m of horizontal passage was a third pit, which was quite wet. We went through the shower (15-20 m down), where we ran out of rope. Then we found the first real squeeze. For me, it looked passable without a harness. The problem was that I would then fall into the next pit (again 10-15 m). This spot needs widening.

It was already late, and we turned back and surveyed the new discoveries (length – 94 m). The end of exploration is approximately 70 m higher than the sump (the lowest point in the cave). It’s a long way to the end. It’s a tough trip. It’s a good lead.

We started on the way out around 8:30 pm and at 1 am we were outside. I think that Matic and Dave really cared for their elder, because I got the lightest pack. Or, maybe they didn’t want to have to wait too much. The next day I felt quite destroyed, but I’m already getting better and already thinking again about that “end of the world”. For me, it really was a nice return to Evklid, and Evklid also smiled on us a bit … or perhaps laughed.

Matt Covington, December 11, 2019.

Pre-action took place on Sunday, December 23. Uroš, Beki, Matija, Lojze, Aja, Matic, Mršek, Roli, Bowie (sherpa dog), Lanko and myself carried the first round of gear to the JZS (Speleological Association of Slovenia) bivouac. At Skalar hut we also met a team of JZS people who kindly helped us with the load (thank you very much).

On Tuesday, December 25 the action proper began. We took the cable car to the D station, and continued on foot to the bivouac on the Kanin plateau. We entered both caves the very same afternoon.

Marko, Klemen, Filip and Matija went to Renejevo brezno. They descended to Gabrček bivouac (-700) and to the bottom of the cave the next day. Along the way, Matej caught up with them and saved the team from drifting in side tuneels. To P4 we went in two teams: Mršek, Jure, Diba and myself rolled down to bivouac Stella (-950, extreme south-east part of the cave), Vid, Luka and Lojze descended to Houston bivouac (-650). Each of us was lined with at least two transport bags, so it took us to the bottom of the cave two to three times longer than usual. Along the way, we de-rigged the completed question marks from previous actions, thus obtaining additional meters of rope.

On Wednesday the Houston team, reinforced by the late Garmin, erected a new emergency bivouac at Infinitum (-950) so they wouldn’t have to climb back to Houston every day. They started digging towards René, but the draft was tricky – the inversion on the surface took away the normal winter draft. Even if there was some air current, it blew a little here, a little there, the strong Kanin draft was nowhere to be felt. It was not until the last days of our expedition that we experienced the true face of the Kanin wind. In the evening, they spoke with the René team for the first time over a cordless phone. The P4 teams communicated successfully via vox. Talking to other teams greatly boosts the morale and cohesion of the campaign. The Stella team attacked the wall at ​the SE, where we aimed to get past the collapse to continue the fossil galleries to the south. At the same time we were exploring a water collector running toward the NW. Fortunately, the water level dropped so much that we didn’t miss the forgotten boat. The first ascent ended again in the collapse and continuation along the collector stopped at the first suspended siphon.

On Thursday and Friday, René and Houston teams worked to connect the two caves. They managed to hear a hammer thunder from the other cave, and they began digging and climbing against the fellow cavers. The draft still was of no use. However, they have made considerable progress in audio contact, although they have not yet been able to talk from one cave to another without the phone. We of the Stella team proceeded along the collector back towards the NW, all the way to the Infinitum hall, where the collapse stopped us. With a little additional effort we will be able to follow the water further. It will be most interesting to see the confluence of all the water flows directed towards the same destination, somewhere beneath the large Infinitum collapse. The other part of Stella team, the brilliant climbing duo Mršek and Diba, climbed the 70 m chimney and, after some strange and inexplicable re-rigging, achieved exactly what we were looking for. Continuation of the fossil galleries, direction Mala Boka, with a solid draft (when it started to blow).

On Saturday, the René team headed for the surface, as did half of the Houston team. Luke and Vid stayed in the Infinitum and put all their power into the connection. They found a bunch of new outlets, but no sign, that they reached René. Although they felt the imminent presence of René cave, they had to admit in the evening that the physical connection would have to wait until the next time. We, the Stella team, continued the work in the tunnel. We descended into the active abyss that cuts through it, but we could not reach the bottom of it. Is it possible that we crossed the threshold where the waters finally flow south? A couple more traverses in the gallery and we stopped at a 10 m ascent. An open sequel waiting for us the next time.

On Sunday, the Stella team and the rest of the Houstonians set off for the sun. At Houston we were surprised by Matej, for whom René was not enough and he came to help us carry the equipment. We were equally delighted by Cyril and Jaros, a couple of pits higher. We looked into the windy night just after 8pm. At JZS bivouac, all three teams reunited and a night of storytelling and cheering followed. On Monday, on New Year’s Eve, we carried all the stuff to Peter Skalar’s hut, where we were joined by a pile of guys of the surface team, to celebrate together the successful campaign and the transition to the new year. A sincere thanks goes to Sončni Kanin / The Sunny Kanin Inc. for the aid with cable car transportation. Without it Kanin exploration would be much harder! At the same time, the friendly smiles and encouragement of the cable car people always make our day more beautiful and share with us the idea that Kanin is our common pearl. Thanks also to the sponsor of this expedition, Diba s.p. (independent entrepreneur), who provided for the extra costs we had with food and equipment. And, of course, to David Škufca, who made the best New Year’s Eve dinner – let your cauldron continue to favor you ;). To sum up – the campaign was one of the most successful, in all respects. René and the P4 team communicated with a hammer and a sledge hammer at a depth of 1000 m, in addition to successful small talk over a cordless cave phone (entrances are 1 km apart). P4 map received a bunch of new question marks and approximately 700 m of new polygon. Aspiring new cavers were tempered and seasoned in the demanding cave, friendships got stronger and more intense, science gained a few more Kanin underground species, and the society a promise that we would not run out of meters (of new cave tunnels).

Underground team: Luka Havliček, Marko Rakovac (Speleo Velebit), Filip Šarc (Ozren Lukič Speleo Club, Zagreb), Mitja Mršek (JK Borovnica), Klemen Kramar, Vid Naglič, Matic Di Batista, Lojze Blatnik, Matej Blatnik, Matija Perne, Tomaž Krajnc, Jure Bevc, Špela Borko, Cyril Mayaud, Jaroš Obu (DZRJL – Cave Exploration Society, Ljubljana).

Surface team: David Škufca, Andrej Drevenšek, Ester Premate, Nataša Sivec, Matevž Hreščak, Tjaša Vezovnik, Uroš Kunaver, Domagoj Korais, Darja Kolar (DZRJL).

A sincere thanks to Sunny Kanin Inc. once again. Without you, exploring Kanin would be so much harder! Friendly smiles and encouragements of the cable car people always make our day more beautiful, it is splendid to know that Kanin is our common pearl.

Photos can be found at the following link.

Translated and posted by Primož Jakopin, December 30, 2019, updated January 9, 2020, after the Slovenian version, contributed by Špela Borko on January 4, 2019.

The school will begin on Thursday, March 5, 2020, at 7 pm in society premises at the ex air-raid shelter on Majaronova street in Ljubljana. The cost is 65 € and includes lectures, equipment rental, a set of accessory cords with a carabiner, a book Do not go to caves headlessly (in Slovenian), visits to caves, single rope technique exercises and the final exam.

Advance admission to the school is optional, but the number of places is limited and advance applicants are given priority. Sign up via this email address.

The caving school consists of 6 lectures and 6 field trips (cave visits and single rope technique exercises in climbing areas). Lectures will be held in March and April every Thursday at 7pm in society premises. They will address cave from equipment and cave research techniques aimed at overcoming cave obstacles, to protecting caves and the principles of cave-friendly visiting and exploration, to cave formation, documentation of cave explorations, to cave hazards and response in case of an emergency, including first aid basics. Field excursions will be held on Saturdays. They will be conducted at first in simpler and later in more demanding caves.

Foreseen caves and activities:
March 3 : Mačkovica cave – The first excursion will get you acquainted with the cave environment and is suitable for anyone with reasonable level of physical fitness and dexterity. It will also enable the school participants to find out whether caving suits them or not. Participation in the first lecture and the first excursion is free of charge and without obligation.
March 14 : Črnuški most Bridge – single rope technique basics
March 21 : Vranja jama cave – single rope technique
March 28 : Medvedjak cave
April 4 : Jama pri Sv. Treh Kraljih cave
April 11 :  Gorjanska jama cave

To learn more click here!

On demand the course program could be expanded with additional cave visits over the weekends or weekday afternoons.

Caving school is about getting ready for autonomous caving activity in accord with the Rules on qualification for autonomous caving activity (in Slovenian). DZRJL (Ljubljana Cave Exploration Society) is accredited to conduct caving education by the decison of the Ministry (of the Environment and Spatial Planning).

The caving school will conclude with an exam where the acquired knowledge and skills will be verified.

For more information write to:
info@dzrjl.si
or contact us via Facebook.

Translated and posted by Primož Jakopin December 28 and 30, 2019, after the Slovenian version, posted by Uroš Kunaver December 24, 2019.

Since I know that a lot of exploration was done this year, I urge you all to think carefully about the application and submit your achievements to the main Slovenian competition. In doing so, do not consider only whether someone has done more than you did and whether it will be you to get the award or not. Try to take this competition as one of the very few opportunities to present your performance in the past year to the wider caving audience.

For any questions, please contact me at the number below.

On behalf of the organizer,
DZRJL – Cave Exploration Society from Ljubljana,
Teo Delić (040 582 066)

Translated by Primož Jakopin December 30, 2019, after the Slovenian version, posted by Teo Delić December 20, 2019. Update posted by Primož Presetnik December 31, 2019