7-22 September, Avenul de sub Vârful Grind – Piatra Craiului Mountains, Romania
The annual exploration expedition in Avenul de sub Vârful Grind (“Grind Pit”) will take place from 7 to 22 September 2024, in Piatra Craiului Mountains, in the center of Romania. The exploration camp is organized by Silex Brașov, Focul Viu București, and Avenul Brașov caving clubs. In the past years, other caving clubs in Romania and from abroad have been involved in the explorations as well.
The purpose of the camp is to continue the explorations of recent years in Avenul de sub Vârful Grind (Pit) – the deepest cave in Romania, with a depth of -800 m. The 2023 camp opened the way beyond the siphon at -775 m and this year one of the main objectives is to prepare a safe passage in the siphon area, then to explore beyond the current terminus!
Avenul de sub Vârful Grind has its entrance located at an altitude of 1922 m a.s.l., on the eastern slope of the mountain’s saw-like limestone main ridge, near Grindului Valley. The entrance is located below the ridge, on one of the Hornurile Grindului steep valleys.
Being part of an underground team requires a good S.R.T. skills (preferentially using European S.R.T.) as almost the entire cave is vertical and is traversed on ropes. In short, in the lower half of the cave, it is a difficult exploration/traverse for several reasons. You will participate in work/exploration trips at various points in the cave, for the objectives listed below. Details of the extended/detailed list of objectives and the possibilities of participating in certain objectives can be discussed with the organizers depending on personal experience/skills and the exploratory/organizational context of the camp.
Objectives:
- Reactivation of the drainage system in the sump/siphon at -775 m and draining of the sump (or lowering the water level); technical work for enlarging the narrow part of the siphon so we can pass through aired space with no neoprene/water protection equipment in the next parts
- Exploration beyond the current terminus by enlarging the restriction point at -800 m and hopefully exploring new verticals
- Climbing a small waterfall wall at -400 m (side gallery with a tributary stream that leads to a parallel section, going up)
- Carrying out crossings/traverses and climbs in the Walter Gutt Shaft (at -500 m) and advancing on possible upward continuations
- Exploration of some lateral narrow leads below -600 m
- Enlarging a narrow fracture in order to find an alternative route to bypass a dangerous breccia plug area at -555 m (under the bivouac -540 m)
- Conducting geomorphological observations and structural measurements
- Photo/video documentation
- Rigging the cave with cave-rescue anchors
You can find more details about the cave and expedition context in this document.
For registrations, we invite you to fill out the following form integrated into the page:
(click on register button at the bottom)
After completing the form, please wait for the organizers accept (answer sent shortly). Then you will receive more details about the planning/objectives in several stages as we get closer to the start of the camp. The camp/expedition objective is to explore the cave and it is not dedicated to cave tourism, nor socializing.
The form can be also accessed via this link
text: A.P.
The Grind Team.
