Blind Descent

Blind Descent
Author: James M. Tabor
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2011-02-15
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0812979494

“Heart-stopping and relentlessly gripping. Tabor takes us on an odyssey into unfathomable worlds beneath us, and into the hearts of rare explorers who will do anything to get there first.”—Robert Kurson, author of ShadowDivers In 2004, two great scientist-explorers attempted to find the bottom of the world. American Bill Stone took on the vast, deadly Cheve Cave in southern Mexico. Ukrainian Alexander Klimchouk targeted Krubera, a freezing nightmare of a supercave in the war-torn former Soviet republic of Georgia. Both men spent months almost two vertical miles deep, contending with thousand-foot drops, raging whitewater rivers, monstrous waterfalls, mile-long belly crawls, and the psychological horrors produced by weeks in absolute darkness, beyond all hope of rescue. Based on his unprecedented access to logs and journals as well as hours of personal interviews, James Tabor has crafted a thrilling exploration of man’s timeless urge to discover—and of two extraordinary men whose pursuit of greatness led them to the heights of triumph and the depths of tragedy. Blind Descent is an unforgettable addition to the classic literature of true-life adventure, and a testament to human survival and endurance. “Holds the reader to his seat, containing dangers aplenty with deadly falls, killer microbes, sudden burial, asphyxiation, claustrophobia, anxiety, and hallucinations far underneath the ground in a lightless world. Using a pulse-pounding narrative, this is tense real-life adventure pitting two master cavers mirroring the cold war with very uncommonly high stakes.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A fascinating and informative introduction to the sport of cave diving, as well as a dramatic portrayal of a significant man-vs.-nature conflict. . . . What counts is Tabor’s knack for maximizing dramatic potential, while also managing to be informative and attentive to the major personalities associated with the most important cave explorations of the last two decades.”—Kirkus Reviews Includes a 16-pg black and white insert

Cave Exploring

Cave Exploring
Author: Paul Burger
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2022-06-02
Genre:
ISBN:

Standard B/W VersionThis book is an introduction to safe cave exploration. The main focus to provide a solid foundation so beginners can explore safely and with the right techniques and gear. The book discusses how to deal with the majority of hazards that can be encountered and how to handle emergency situations. There is a brief orientation to cave maps, where to find them, and how to read them to help keep you from getting lost.The book includes the basics of how different caves form and what interesting things you can expect to find in them as well as why caves are important. Some aspects of cave geology, biology, and hydrology are covered along with some special topics such as White Nose Syndrome in bats.For those who have done some caving, the book introduces the basics of cave camping, ice caving, and technical ropework for exploration. For these advanced topics, there are additional resources outlined in the book for those who want to pursue more challenging situations. This is the only book on cave exploration that contains a section on trip leadership. There are important discussions on how to be an effective trip leader and how to be a good member of the team. This section also provides some advice on how to handle difficult team dynamics both on the surface and underground.

Exploring Maya Ritual Caves

Exploring Maya Ritual Caves
Author: Stanislav Chládek
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN: 0759119872

Exploring Maya Ritual Caves offers a rare survey and explication of most of the known ancient Maya ritual caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. The caves were the Maya underworld, where rituals, including animal and human sacrifice, were carried out. The Maya cave cult and mythology, construction and modification of the caves, and cult art and artifacts are discussed. Chládek, an intrepid explorer, then describes important caves that he has recently visited and provides photos of their wonders.

Beyond the Deep

Beyond the Deep
Author: William Stone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2010-05-30
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780446561273

The Huautla in Mexico is the deepest cave in the Western Hemisphere, possibly the world. Shafts reach skyscraper-depths, caverns are stadium-sized, and sudden floods can drown divers in an instant. With a two-decade obsession, William Stone and his 44-member team entered the sinkhole at Sotano de San Augustin. The first camp settled 2,328 feet below ground in a cavern where headlamps couldn't even illuminate the walls and ceiling. The second camp teetered precariously above an underground canyon where two subterranean rivers collided. But beyond that lay the unknown territory -- a flooded corridor that had blocked all previous comers, claimed a diver's life, and drove the rest of the team back. Except for William Stone and Barbara am Ende, who forged on for 18 more days, with no hope of rescue, to set the record for the deepest cave dive in the Western Hemisphere.

Into the Planet

Into the Planet
Author: Jill Heinerth
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2019-08-20
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0062691562

From one of the world’s most renowned cave divers, a firsthand account of exploring the earth’s final frontier: the hidden depths of our oceans and the sunken caves inside our planet More people have died exploring underwater caves than climbing Mount Everest, and we know more about deep space than we do about the depths of our oceans. From one of the top cave divers working today—and one of the very few women in her field—Into the Planet blends science, adventure, and memoir to bring readers face-to-face with the terror and beauty of earth’s remaining unknowns and the extremes of human capability. Jill Heinerth—the first person in history to dive deep into an Antarctic iceberg and leader of a team that discovered the ancient watery remains of Mayan civilizations—has descended farther into the inner depths of our planet than any other woman. She takes us into the harrowing split-second decisions that determine whether a diver makes it back to safety, the prejudices that prevent women from pursuing careers underwater, and her endeavor to recover a fallen friend’s body from the confines of a cave. But there’s beauty beyond the danger of diving, and while Heinerth swims beneath our feet in the lifeblood of our planet, she works with biologists discovering new species, physicists tracking climate change, and hydrogeologists examining our finite freshwater reserves. Written with hair-raising intensity, Into the Planet is the first book to deliver an intimate account of cave diving, transporting readers deep into inner space, where fear must be reconciled and a mission’s success balances between knowing one’s limits and pushing the envelope of human endurance.

Exploring Caves

Exploring Caves
Author: Nancy Holler Aulenbach
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2001
Genre: Caving
ISBN: 9780153566264

Follow experienced cavers Nancy Holler Aulenbach and Hazel Barton as they explore caves in Greenland, the Grand Canyon, Colorado, Georgia, Yucatan Peninsula, and New Mexico on a scientific mission.

Underground Worlds

Underground Worlds
Author: David Farley
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2018-05-15
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0316514004

A visual and anecdotal exploration of the curious worlds hidden beneath our feet, including ancient cities, salt mine cathedrals, underground amusement parks, and more. From bone-filled catacombs to sculpted salt churches to hand-carved cave complexes large enough to house 20,000 people, Underground Worlds is packed with more than 50 unusual destinations that take some digging to find. Award-winning travel writer David Farley revels in the unexpected, whether it is a cave city in China which houses one of the world's largest collections of Buddhist art or an old salt mine converted into a theme park in Romania. Stunning photos help readers see places they could not even imagine, such as a three-story underground train station in Taiwan that is home to the a 4,500-panel "Dome of Light" that is the largest glasswork on Earth, as well as secret spaces, such as an ornate temple built beneath a suburban home in Italy. Throughout the fascinating text are themed entries of underground systems such as the 2,500-year-old water tunnels of Kish Qanat in Iran or engineering marvels like the New York City steam tunnels.

Caves

Caves
Author: Michael Ray Taylor
Publisher: National Geographic
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2000
Genre: Cave diving
ISBN:

Takes the reader on a tour of different types of caves, including Greenland, the Yucatan Peninsula, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and the American Southwest, and explains the creatures that live there and the techniques explorers use.

The Secret Cave

The Secret Cave
Author: Emily Arnold McCully
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2010-09-14
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0374366942

Recounts the true story of how four boys looking for buried treasure in the south of France in 1940 stumbled upon something much more valuable--a sealed cave whose walls were covered with prehistoric paintings and engravings.

Fern Cave

Fern Cave
Author: Jennifer Ellen Pinkley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2014-07-11
Genre: Caving
ISBN: 9780990354703

Fern Cave is one of the most significant (and magnificent) caves in the southeastern US, and even the country. It's over 15 miles long, is three separate caves connected into one cave system, has fantastically beautiful formations, incredibly complicated passages, important deposits of ancient animal bones, one section of the cave is the winter home for over a million endangered gray bats, and the cave used to be one of the favorite destinations for experienced cave explorers (most of the cave is now closed to any caving--that story is included in the book). The story of how cavers discovered and explored this cave is incredible, especially since when cavers discovered Surprise Pit, modern vertical caving gear did not exist. This book also explains how the US Fish and Wildlife Service bought 4 entrances to the cave in 1981 and teamed up with cavers to responsibly manage the cave to protect both the massive cave itself and the bat colony. The story continues by explaining how that partnership has almost disappeared in the era of white-nose syndrome cave closures. This book is a tale of discovery, exploration, adventure, wonder, politics, nature, biology, science, and beauty.