Application for Grant Aid

Submitted on: 30 Mar 2021


Expedition details (GPF2021a-004)

Expedition Name (& Club): Sila Narave (Force of Nature) (Imperial College Caving Club)
Destination country: Slovenia
Region: Julian Alps, Tolminski Migovec
Lat: 46.2528 Long: 13.7609 Elevation: 1868 m
MEF funding: none

Leader: Ms. Rebecca Diss
Total cavers: 11
Cavers ≤25 yrs old: 8
Cavers 25-35 yrs old: 3
UK/nonUK cavers: 10/1
Eligible for grant aid: 10
Alex Pitcher nominations: 2
Expedition dates: 20th Aug 2021 - 26th Sep 2021
Duration (days): 38
Man-days in field: 598 Man-days travelling: 32
Brief Expedition objectives:

List a short summary of the main Expedition objectives.

Since the 2020 expedition was cancelled, this year we think it is important to focus partly on maintenance of current rigging and routes in Primadona to ensure everything is safe after being left for two years. This will also give us time to get back into expeditionary caving and teach newer members how to bolt, rig and find their way around in the cave.
We will return to camp at “The Manger” ~500m (previous underground camp in 2018) in Primadona:
(1) to pass on skills to newer cavers to ensure future expeditions have enough experienced leaders to facilitate deep pushing and underground camping
(2) to push Donji Milanovac/Polnoletna, expected connect with Poseidon Rift or Streetwise Hercules and provide an alternative route to deep leads
Pushing of remaining undescended shafts in the Monatip-M16 connection
Pushing the two main leads in the Hallelujah branch, one following the water and a second dry route
Return to Coincidence cave to resurvey and consider potential alternative routes
How can the GPF support your Expedition?:

Please explain the aspects of the trip which make it eligible for Ghar Parau funding.

With financial aid from the GPF, ICCC has been exploring System Migovec for over 25 years. This year we plan to continue deep exploration in Donji Milanovac/Polnoletna which will be facilitated by a camp at “The Manger” (-500m). We also hope to push deep leads in Octarine and below the Hallelujah streamway in Primadona. This level of pushing will require a significant amount of rope and metalwork and underground camp will also require a lot of equipment (tents, sleeping bags etc.). Due to COVID-19, we are unlikely to have access to the usual Imperial College Union minibus which means our food and transport costs will be much higher this year than in previous years. Financial support from the GPF will make the expedition affordable for student cavers despite these challenges and enable us to achieve our expedition goals.
Detailed description of objectives:

Give a more detailed account of the purpose of the trip, including any particular known caves you intend to visit, specific areas where you will explore for new cave, and scientific experiments you will attempt.

Shallow Leads

Coincidence cave
Coincidence cave was discovered in 2015, with an entrance much lower down the mountain than the rest of the caves under Migovec. After digging in 2018 we broke through to a large rift but progress was halted by a constriction after less than 100 m. Our Slovenian colleagues returned to apply chemical persuasion to the constrictions, resulting in a much expanded cave. This is a very accessible bit of cave which will provide good practice for novices before pushing deep leads in Primadona. We plan to do a thorough re-survey and explore remaining leads.

Monatip shafts
In 2015 a connection passage was discovered between Monatip cave and NCB passage, joining in at the junction between M18/M2 and M18/M16. In 2019 the M2 to Monatip traverse was completed and ~12 undescended 20+ metre shafts were observed. The closest shaft, Wishing Well, to NCB was accessed through M16 and M2 and was discovered to connect to Mig Country in M16. These leads are now one hour caving from the surface. Around 50m down the passage from the top of Wishing Well is another undescended shaft of larger dimensions. Using Survex we can tell that there is no known cave directly below this shaft until about -650m depth, making it an exciting lead. These leads are an excellent place to train novices and hone expeditionary skills.

Deep Pushing in Primadona

TTT Branch

Camping
This year we plan to revisit the 2018 camp at the Déjà Vu junction, called “The Manger”, (just below TTT) to facilitate pushing of Donji Milanovac and its potential connection with the Klic Globin rift. This camp is more accessible than last expo's which will be of benefit to novices and setup of camp will be easier. Camping at the Manger will also allow pushing of leads in Hammerhead, a dry area of breakdown boulder passage with a strong draft very close to camp, providing good training for novices and those who are out of practice from lockdown. Having a camp in this location is very important to teach route finding in this part of the system and pass on skills to ensure next year's leaders know how to safely set up an underground camp. Considering the current caving restrictions and the cancellation of the 2020 expedition due to COVID-19, we want to make sure there is not a gap in skills/knowledge.

Donji Milanovac
In 2019, we continued our resurvey efforts down towards the old deepest part of Primadona, Donji Milanovac. Two Slovene cavers returned to the lead at the bottom and discovered an ongoing pitch series (Polnoletna) which runs in parallel close to the Klic Globin rift. We expect the two routes to converge in Poseidon Rift or Street-wise Hercules. Camping at The Manger will facilitate further pushing and hopefully provide us with an alternative route into the Klic Globin rift.

Hallelujah Branch
There are two main leads in this branch of the cave. The first is following the Hallelujah stream. Last year, a bypass to the crack which the stream disappears into was found and a series of small chambers and pitches follow the water. Exploration finished on a ledge overlooking two undescended large parallel shafts. The second, Octarine, is a window off the final pitch of Bath. From the window three short pitches intercept a dry canyon. The passage to the East was explored as it got larger and exploration was left at a 15m pitch overlooking a large continuation. This is the very promising lead heading into blank mountain to the South East. The increasing depth of these leads means that trips may benefit from a lightweight 2-human camp in dry passage above the streamway. This would be a dry and safe alternative to pushing in Donji Milanovac whilst still providing the opportunity for deep exploration and camping underground.

Other areas

Area N

This area is ~4 hours’ hike from the main bivi. Visits in 2019 found and GPS tagged potential entrances for further exploration. These entrances reside on a cliff known as ‘’Vrh Planje’’ and there are many locations close by suitable for lightweight camping. The largest explored cave in area N is N9. N9 was found during a winter recce and was identified as a blowhole with a large draught. On the last expedition we managed to explore to the end of N9, several pitches deep, where it ended in scree. Area N provides surface level pushing and the potential to find new entrances to the system. We plan to have a systemic approach to covering all unexplored ground in area N which will maximise our efficiency and ensure “manpower” is not completely taken away from deep exploration in Primadona. This year we have selected a specific area of Vrh Planje to search, and will keep a GPS record of where has confirmed presence/absence of leads.
Previous work in this area:

Give details of any previous work in this area by your own and other teams. Include references to reports and articles published on the area, and the names of any local cavers or academics with whom you have discussed the Expedition.

Exploration on the Migovec Plateau began in 1974 by JSPDT members. We (ICCC) have run expeditions to this area in: 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and smaller recces in Easter 95, Autumn 06, Winter 09.

Vrtnarija (Gardener’s World) was discovered in 2000, and extended on every expedition until our attention shifted to Primadona. It was connected into System Migovec in 2012, making the longest cave in Slovenia.

Primadona was connected to System Migovec in October 2015.

Main exploration info 1974--2006 presented in The Hollow Mountain (2007, available as free PDF here: https://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/pages/hollowmountain ).
A short overview of 2013-2017 expedition written up in Descent (262): Beneath the Hollow Mountain.
Exploration info from 2013-2017 presented in The Hollow Mountain III (2019, available here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/jamarska-sekcija-planinskega-dru%C5%A1tva-tolmin-and-imperial-college-caving-club/the-hollow-mountain-iii/paperback/product-23980766.html
Or as a free pdf on request).

Racine, T. (2019): The Migovec System, a deep alpine cave system of the Julian Alps, NW Slovenia. - Die Höhle, 70, 57-75.

Expedition Finances

Travel

Travel plans:
We will hire one SUV and use one personal car which will transport 2 drivers each and the expedition’s gear and equipment. We will drive via Calais-Benelux, through Germany and Austria and reach Slovenia after a ca. 24 hours drive. All other expedition personnel will have to fly to Ljubljana and get a bus to Tolmin. This is different from usual as we are not guaranteed access to an Imperial College Union minibus, meaning more people will need to fly.


# from UK: 20 Travel costs breakdown (for personnel leaving from the UK):
Total costs from UK: £8,430 SUV cost:
£1,200 base fee + £300 for 2 additional drivers (needed for transport when in Slovenia)

Fuel cost:
£500 fuel per vehicle = ~£1000 total

Insurance for drivers on personal car:
£400

Ferry: 2x £125 return with a flexible ticket fare (± 4 hours window) =£250 total

Flights (16 persons):
£280 return flight (London-Ljubljana) with hold luggage (larger bags required due to lack of minibus space)
£50 airport transfer return.

Total costs leaving from UK*: £
Number of personnel leaving from UK*: 4 (car) + 16 (flights) = 20 persons
Item quantity Unit price (£) Total (£)
SUV hire 1 1200 1200
Additional drivers 2 150 300
Ferry (flexi ticket) 2 125 250
Car insurance 2 200 400
Fuel - - 1000
Return Flights 16 280 4480
Airport transfers 16 50 800
___________________________________________________________
TOTAL 8,430


# from outside UK: 0 Travel costs breakdown (for personnel leaving from the UK):
Total costs from outside UK: £0 At this stage we are unsure if anybody from overseas will be joining us so have not included this in the budget. It is possible some may come from Europe and that travel costs will be similar to that from the UK.

Travel total: £8,430 Travel p.p. from UK: £421
Travel p.p. from outside UK: £0

Subsistence

Total: £3,850 Comments:
Subsistence p.p.: £193 All non perishable food is usually bought before the expedition and transported to Tolmin in the minibus. This year we will have to purchase most of the food in Slovenia due to lack of space in cars. Fresh food will be bought on location and re-stocked during the expedition when/as required, however most food is non-perishable or dehydrated. Previous years have spent ~ £2500. We expect to spend more this year due because food prices are higher in Slovenia so we estimate costs to be around £2,750

Gear

Total: £3,390 Comments:
Gear p.p.: £170 Group caving equipment:
- bolting kits, rope, maillons, spits, hangers, tackle bags, rigging tape: these need yearly or frequent replacement because they are PPE, and the rocks are extremely sharp and abrasive. We also use numerous bolts as each year we discover many large pitches, which require careful rigging and bolting to avoid rope rub, and to ensure good rock for bolt placement.
-drill equipment (maintenance, bits, custom Li-ion battery packs, rawl bolts) ~£3,000.
UG camp:
This year we wi
Exped Total: £15,670 Exped cost p.p. travelling from UK: £783
Exped cost p.p. travelling from outside UK: £0
Mean Exped cost per person: £783

Other Funding

Total: £0 Comments:
We will apply for funding from Imperial College Union but it is unclear whether this will happen this year or how much money it will be.
Total shortfall: £15,670 Mean shortfall per person: £783

Referees and Report

Please give the names, addresses and phone numbers of two suitably qualified people whom the Committee can contact. You should ensure that they are aware of the objectives of your trip, and that you have their permission for the Committee to contact them.

Referee 1: Tony Seddon
Affiliation: Cave Rescue Training Provider

Reason: Tony provides the club with small group training sessions for rigging and advanced SRT rescue techniques twice a year.

Permission obtained?: Yes
Referee 2: Mike Rogerson
Affiliation: Professor of Geography & Earth

Reason: Long term associate of Imperial College Caving Club.

Permission obtained?: Yes

Expedition report author: Rebecca Diss