Presentation on the explorations of the cave club "Under the Edge" in the longest cave system on the Balkan Peninsula, system "Crnopac", South Velebit, Croatia.
Miroslav Petrov: Engineer and long time member of the club, active since 2007. He has participated in many expeditions in Bulgaria and Croatia and will share the new trends in speleology.
Ani Gateva: IT specialist with almost 10 years of experience in caving. She is actively teaching courses and has participated in research in Bulgaria, Albania and Croatia. Ani will share her inspiring stories from her underground adventures.
Cave Club "Under the Edge", s. Tserovo was established with the aim to develop speleology in Bulgaria and around the world, but now we do much more than that. Every year we organize spring clean-ups in the area around the village of. Tserovo, introduce the youngest ones to caves and how to explore them, enrich their knowledge of the winter mountain and its dangers through annual outings. Our plans are growing every year and we have now decided to join together in cleaning up caves used for unregulated dumps as well.
What's new in Kolkina?
In early 2024 we discovered a promising place to pass the bottom blockage. The subsequent expedition was successful and we are now on the other side in the "Lost World" which is filled with giant halls, deep rivers and new underground kilometers. We are now so advanced that we have a brand new camp 4 called "March Snow" and the mapped galleries have increased by 4,133km, thanks to this Kolkina Hole enters the ranking of the longest caves in the world at 247th place.
'Under the Edge' succeeded in setting a new tradition in terms of Bulgarian cave exploration abroad. This tradition and strategic interest are linked to Croatia.
Why Croatia?
The reasons that led to our significant role in the exploration of the Croatian Karst and its chasms are several.
It is close to Bulgaria, which makes Croatia accessible and a possible destination for repeat visits. The Croatian karst is extremely well developed there are many deep caves and as many as four chasms cross the 1000m mark.
The local caving community there is active and exploration is happening now. There are many unexplored areas and their potential is dizzying.
Thanks to almost a decade of Cera presence in Croatia, the country is shaping up as a natural clubbing priority.
Over the years, friendly relations with the local caving community have been established, which opens up a new opportunity after the experience already gained at club level with explorations in Albania and Kolkina Hole. Croatia appears on the club map at the right time.
The important years and visits of the club are:
North Velebit: 2012 - the first visit of club members in Croatia to Velebit cave with depth -1026m.
2020th, 2021st and 2022nd - participation in the exploration of the thousand meter sinkhole Nedam - serious help in the exploration and subsequent siphon dive at -1200m.
South Velebit: 2015th - first visit by a club member to Kita Gacheshina cave. Since 2016, the club participates and organizes annual research in the same cave. The only exception is the 2020th due to Kovid measures.
"Under the Edge" takes an active part in the exploration of the Karst area of Tsarnopac, where besides Kita Gacheshina are the entrances of Muda Labudova and Sovina Oasis.
In 2019, club members participated during an expedition connecting the Kita Gacheshina-Drazhenova Puhalka system with the Sovina Oasis Peshtera. This led to the Tsarnopats system. It was subsequently connected to the Muda Labodova cave, making the Crnopac system the longest on the Balkan Peninsula and the 59th in the world (62.296km). In the cave Kita Gacheshina a "Bulgarian area" is distinguished, in the most remote and deep parts of the cave (~12h to the farthest front of exploration).
Bjokovo and Nyemitsa cave - systematic participation in the exploration of the cave from -400m to the bottom at -934m in the period from 2019 to 2021.
We made friends and became welcome at more than one club's camps and expeditions and in all areas where active exploration is taking place. Our explorations with the Croatian Karst continue, we have a well established routine, and ambition and motivation are not lacking. We look forward to many more results, new adventures and more friends to continue discovering new areas and caves.