Photo: Axel Hack

Way back in 1999, the director of Unlimited Access was fortunate enough to be invited to join an already well-established cave exploration project in the Dachstein region of the Austrian Alps.  This was the moment that was to change the path of his life as he had unwittingly become part of one of the greatest adventures known to man: the search for the deepest cave on Earth.  Under the (occasionally) watchful eyes of his elders and betters, he gained in experience & took over the running of the expedition.  He then spent the next few decades far beneath the mountains & rapidly came to regret losing his youthful motivation year by year.  The caves in this region are absurdly deep, long, cold, flood-prone & downright hard, and he wishes he'd chosen a more glamorous activity...

The project consists of two phases: summer & winter.  The summer trip involves up to forty volunteer cavers from all over the world who congregate in the mountains for a month or more.  Our main project is the 1.56km deep WUG Pot (see below) as the potential here is vast.  

The winter trip sees a small team spending a week at a time living in the far reaches of the lower part of the cave that is accessed closer to the valley.  Up until recently, the main element required cave diving with technical aid climbing beyond the flooded tunnels & is one of the more unique & difficult projects currently happening in Europe.  However, we're now shifting focus to other areas so the diving will take a back seat for the foreseeable future.  The overall depth potential within the mountain range is approximately 2.5km depth which would be a world record.   

Our director about to abseil off a cliff deep underground beyond a long flooded sump. Only three people have ever been here & rescue is not something that could be considered...

It's fair to say that the work-related rope access, confined space, rescue, mountaineer  & training skills of the director have benefitted enormously from these expeditions.  This becomes apparent in all aspects of day to day operations: safety & accident prevention is paramount, comprehensive first aid kits are always accessible, equipment & anchorage are checked thoroughly, other contractors are made aware of hazards & potential dangers.  Unlimited Access take safety far more seriously than most as they've seen the consequences of accidents first-hand & know how easily simple mistakes can lead to disaster.  After all, it's far easier to prevent problems than to deal with them.       

The director preparing for the cave dive far below the Alps

UPDATE.  The 2017 Expedition saw 40 cavers from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, America & New Zealand ascend the mountain & explore caves for almost a month under the overall direction of the Unlimited Access management.  The main cave was pushed & mapped to an impressive 835 metres depth & extended another couple of kilometres.  A small party continued exploration beyond the survey team through a tunnel to reach a gigantic ramp that is, in all likelihood, the further-reaches of the Hirlatz Hole beyond the sumps that the cave divers (including the director of Unlimited Access) found some years ago.  If this is the same location it means that we have connected the two caves & now have the 8th deepest cave system in the world (1.5km deep).  Unfortunately, before the mapping party got this far, the snow on the mountains melted & sealed the connecting passage wth icy water.  Sadly we need the survey evidence to prove we've done it it so will have to wait another year to achieve what has been the goal for the project for half a century & the personal obsession of the UA director for the last two decades.  Watch this space...     

UPDATE 2018 (POSTED ON THE DACHSTEIN (AUSTRIA) CAVING EXPEDITIONS FACEBOOK PAGE :

The news has already filtered out but a couple of weeks ago we finally made & confirmed the connection between Wot U Got Pot (WUG) & the Hirlatzhöhle making this the 9th deepest & the 19th longest cave in the world (1.56km deep & 113km long). This has been the culmination of enormous effort from hundreds of cave explorers over more than half a century & only those of us who have shed blood, sweat & tears below the most magnificent karst landscape on Earth will truly understand the importance of this achievement. I cannot put into words just how proud I am to be part of the rag-tag army of adventurers who made this possible so remember this: no matter what happens in your lives the baddies cannot take this away from you as you were, are, and always will be a member of the Dachstein Daredevils😈 And as per usual in our game nobody beyond the borders of Speleo-Hobbiton gives a shit about any of this!!!

THE PIECE BELOW WAS WRITTEN BY DAVID ROSE: AUTHOR, JOURNALIST & CAVE EXPLORER.

The term "historic" is sometimes overused when applied to cave exploration. But the connection described in Joel Corrigan's post between Wot U Got Pot and the Hirlatzhohle in the Dachstein really is historic: the culmination of many decades of work by several generations of cavers, both in the potholes high in the mountains and in the great Hirlatzhohle deep in the valley below. It creates a system 1560m deep (ninth deepest in the world) and 113km long - and long will it live in the annals of speleology. These are some of the toughest, coldest caves on the planet. A superb achievement. The photos, by Axel Hack, show the gigantic Wadiland passage where the two caves were connected, and the four who confirmed the link - from left to right, Joel, Tom Foord, Axel and Ian - just after they did so. Joel has been leading trips to these caves for twenty years. Incredible persistence.

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW

The Expedition T-shirt design after the success of the 2018 trip

extended elevation survey of the yellow section of the cave from the upper image
(the main" profile" view is from the side & the smaller insert "plan" is the view from above)
For a fit team with heavy bags it probably takes c.15 hours +  to exit the cave from the further limits

AFTER-DINNER SPEAKING:

The director is occasionally available for after-dinner speaking and will hopefully not bore guests to death!  He's given multiple presentations to the following over many years:

Kendal Mountain Film Festival; Hidden Earth Caving Conference; SUICRO (Irish Caving Congress); Rotary & Probus Clubs; multiple caving clubs & organisations.  

All proceeds will go directly towards the Dachstein Caving Expedition Group rather than lining anyone's pockets!  These talks are aimed at open-minded adults so please advise if children or politically-correct audience members will be present...