Hidden Earth 2019

Return to Pakistan (Cave Exploration in Pakistan 1990 to 2018)

45 minute Lecture|Simon Brooks

Abstract

Pakistan is a colourful, varied, interesting and hospitable part of the world, often misunderstood, but with a great variety of stunning scenery and some significant karst areas. From 1990 onwards systematic cave exploration as an enduring partnership between the Orpheus Caving Club and the Quetta (Baluchistan) based Chiltan Adventurers Association, Balochistan (CAAB) has yielded 139 known caves with a cumulative passage length of 6,370m. This lecture gives an overview of the cave exploration to date and focuses on the most recent visit in December 2018 where despite challenging conditions another 6 caves were explored yielding a modest 140m of new passage and engaging modern technology to explore caves where western explorers (advisedly) fear to tread.