Application for Grant Aid

Submitted on: 25 Feb 2022


Expedition details (GPF2022a-004)

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

Leader: Ms. Rebecca Diss
Total cavers: 19
Cavers ≤25 yrs old: 8
Cavers 25-35 yrs old: 9
UK/nonUK cavers: 16/3
Eligible for grant aid: 18
Alex Pitcher nominations: 2
Expedition dates: 2nd Jul 2022 - 7th Aug 2022
Duration (days): 37
Man-days in field: 539 Man-days travelling: 33
Brief Expedition objectives:

List a short summary of the main Expedition objectives.

Provisional goals
Since our past two expeditions have been canceled due to COVID-19, this year we think it is important to focus partly on maintenance of current rigging and routes in Primadona. 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 train new cavers to explore alpine caves safely and to enable as many of them as possible to explore new cave passages.
We will set up a new camp in the Hallelujah branch of Primadona which will enable pushing of two main leads. One follows the streamway (below the Beam Me Up pitch) and a second dry route (Octarine).
We will push the remaining undescended shafts in the Monatip - M16 connection.
We will push the new cave below Planja, a peak on the ridge beyond Tolminski Kuk. The draughting cave is over 200 m long, has excellent depth potential, and sits in a completely blank area of the mountain
How can the GPF support your Expedition?:

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

This year we are planning to continue deep exploration in the Hallelujah branch of Primadona (including an underground camp), to push the new cave Brezno pod vrhom Planje, and visit the unexplored passages in Extra Dunkel. We are also planning to make the route from M16 the Monatip undescended shafts safe. All of these projects will require a significant amount of rope, metalwork, and other consumables.
This year it is uncertain whether we will have access to the usual Imperial College Union minibus which means our transport costs will be much higher this year than in previous years. On top of this, we will have to re-evaluate our food purchasing system due to Brexit which limits how much food, and of what kind, we can take with us to Europe.
With support from the GPF, ICCC has been exploring Sistem Migovec for over 25 years. The financial aid from the GPF has helped make the expedition affordable for student cavers and introduced many new cavers to the delights of cave exploration.
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
Monatip shafts
In 2019 a traverse from the M2 entrance (via NCB passage) to Monatip was completed and 12 undescended shafts were noted along the connection passage, all >20 metres deep. The shaft nearest NCB, Wishing Well, was soon connected directly to Mig Country in M16. The ability to access the connection from M16 greatly reduces the distance of the rest of the shafts from the surface (now 1 hour).

A further 50m from the top of Wishing Well is a larger shaft (Extra Dunkel). From a ledge at the bottom of this pit, a tight, continuing meander could be seen, but it remains unexplored. There are over 500 vertical metres of blank limestone below this shaft, making it a lead with great depth potential as well as an excellent place to train novices and hone expeditionary skills.

We aim to rerig the route from M16 to Wishing Well and to remove old and unwanted tackle from the area. These passages were first equipped 20 years ago and some of the bolts are now in poor condition. This will ensure the routes are safe and provide an excellent opportunity for novices to learn how to bolt and rig without the need for hours of caving to reach a deep lead.

Deep Pushing in Primadona: Hallelujah Branch
There are two main leads in this branch of the cave. The first is the downstream continuation of Hallelujah streamway. In 2019, 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 a large undescended shaft.

The second lead, Octarine, is a window off the final pitch of Bath. From the window three short pitches intercept a dry canyon. This east trending passage got larger and larger and exploration was left at a 15m pitch overlooking a large continuation. This is the most promising lead of the branch, heading into blank mountain to the South East. As the deeper leads of the TTT branch have proven to be extremely responsive to wet weather, this lead provides an easier, and drier alternative.

A camp, to be set up in the dry chamber below Sweet Baby Jesus pitch, will greatly assist in the exploration of the increasingly deep leads of Hallelujah branch. This camp will be more accessible than the one set up in Moonraker in 2019. It will be easier to set up and to reach and so more of the expedition novices’ will be able to experience an underground camp. We will continue to use our Cave Link system to communicate between the camp and surface and believe that the passage nearby is suitable to deploy the aerial.

Other areas
Area N
Area N is located to the North of Tolminske Kuk (4hr hike). In 2019, potential entrances were found and GPS tagged. Some of these are located on the northern flank of Planja peak.
The largest explored cave in area N is N9, found during a winter recce thanks to its large draught. In 2019, we fully explored N9, finding several new pitches along the way. On top of the valuable experience of surface-based exploration, the other caves of Area N hold the potential to find cave development away from the main system.
We plan to have a systematic approach to covering all unexplored ground in area N which will maximise our efficiency and ensure personnel is not diverted 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 the exploration status of POIs, to aid future expeditions.

Vrh Planja Valley
The Vrh Planja valley is located immediately to the NW of Tolminski Kuk and it is ~1.5 hours from the Bivi. Any cave development in this area lies well away from any known cave, representing a new piece to the speleogenetic puzzle of Migovec. In 2020, two entrances were identified while surveying a nearby ice cave. The first (Planja cave) was explored and fully surveyed during a short expedition in August 2021. The second (Brezno pod vrhom Planje) opens at an elevation of 1869 m, with an 8 m entrance pit leading to a maze of passages. Digging by the JSPDT has revealed a new pitch, and beyond, over 150m of passages, reaching a total depth of 61 m. The main lead in this cave is a 20 m undescended pit, with a draughting horizontal passage providing a second option for further development. We plan to set up a lightweight bivi camp in this area to enable longer pushing trips without a long walk to the caves.

Expedition skills
This year we are mindful that there may have been some skill and knowledge lost due to the cancellation of our expeditions over the last 2 years. With this in mind, we have kept our goals modest to ensure we are fully prepared and are able to remain safe whilst also achieving the plans we set out.

Specifically we have chosen to move our underground camp closer to the surface, to ensure it is accessible to newer cavers and so that support from the surface is easier. We are also going to make the shallow leads in Monatip more accessible and safe by rebolting the M16 route.
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, Summer 20 and Autumn 21.

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

Primadona was connected to Sistem 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 ).
Racine, T. (2018) Beneath the Hollow Mountain. - Descent 262, 30-34

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.
Racine, T., Tyers, R. (2020) Call of the depths. - Descent 275, 32-38
Racine T., Čarga J. (2021) Caving in the ‘Hollow Mountain’: exploration of the longest cave system in Slovenia. - UIS scientific conference 18th Int. Congress of Speleology – SYMPOSIUM 02 – Caving and explorations https://uis2021.sciencesconf.org/data/pages/ONLINE2021_SYMPOSIUM_02_v2.pdf

Expedition Finances

Travel

Travel plans:
Cars (6 persons):
We will hire one SUV and use two personal cars 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 may need to fly.

SUV cost:
£1,200 base fee + £300 for additional drivers

Fuel cost:
£500 fuel per vehicle = ~£1500 total

Insurance for drivers on personal car:
£400

Ferry: 3x £239 return with a flexible ticket fare (± 4 hours window) =£717 total

Flights (14 persons):
£250 return flight (London-Ljubljana) with hold luggage (larger bags required due to lack of minibus space)
£50 airport transfer return.





# from UK: 20 Travel costs breakdown (for personnel leaving from the UK):
Total costs from UK: £8,317 Number of personnel leaving from UK*: 6 (car) + 14 (flights) = 20 persons
Travel costs breakdown*: Item quantity Unit price (£) Total (£)
SUV hire 1 1200 1200
Additional drivers 2 150 300
Ferry (flexi ticket) 3 239 717
Car insurance 2 200 400
Fuel - - 1500
Return Flights 14 250 3500
Airport transfers 14 50 700
_______________________________________________________
TOTAL 8,317

# from outside UK: 0 Travel costs breakdown (for personnel leaving from the UK):
Total costs from outside UK: £120 1* Innsbruck - Ljubljana train (return ticket) = £100
1* Transport between Ljubljana and Tolmin £20

Travel total: £8,437 Travel p.p. from UK: £415
Travel p.p. from outside UK: £0

Subsistence

Total: £3,960 Comments:
Subsistence p.p.: £198 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 limitations on how much food can be taken across the border (brexit). 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 because food prices are higher in Sloven

Gear

Total: £3,220 Comments:
Gear p.p.: £161 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/surface camp:
This ye
Exped Total: £15,617 Exped cost p.p. travelling from UK: £774
Exped cost p.p. travelling from outside UK: £0
Mean Exped cost per person: £780

Other Funding

Total: £0 Comments:
Total shortfall: £15,617 Mean shortfall per person: £780

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: Mr. 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: Mr. Sean Whittle
Affiliation: Cave first aid training provid

Reason: Sean is an outdoor first aid instructor with 20 years cave rescue experience and has provided the club with caving specific first aid training

Permission obtained?: Yes

Expedition report author: Rebecca Diss