Skozi Zrcalo
Summary of Exploration
Between July 11th and August 18th 2014 the Imperial College Caving Club held its 19th expedition Skozi Zrcalo in the Triglav National Park, Northwest Slovenia. Skozi Zrcalo which means 'through the looking glass' refers to the small sonar Dr J.M. Frost ( the club's diver ) brought to measure the depth of a particular syphon, a necessary operation before any diving attempt. Weather conditions on the surface however did not agree with this project and the torrential rain made the cave passage to the sump near impassable and one pitch in particular unsafe to descend.
A total of 21 members of the club came out to the Migovec Plateau, along with one Irish caver and seven Slovenes. Unfortunately only a handful could make it out for the full span of the exploration but the shorter their stay the more determined the cavers were to see something done so that the lack of manpower did not diminish the level of exploration that took place.
Two years after the connection was made, the leads still abound and new objectives arise. This new chapter of exploration saw many important finds in the deep southern reaches of the system, bringing us ever closer to a lower entrance possibility. The northern reaches also offer promising perspectives but both are a little further still from the current deep camp, and this year's new leads may toll the bells for Camp XRay.
Surface exploration was not neglected this year, though deep exploration was prevalent. Efforts were made towards the digging of some blowing holes on the cliff face and a few cavers undertook some reconnaissance work on the northern side of the plateau towards the higher peaks of Kuk, and Skrbina, known as area N, where a promising lead was pushed two years ago. If the pot ( N9 ) wasn't found, hopes are ever higher that a thorough surface work will eventually break into a more complex pitch series to the North which overlies directly the northernmost tip of the system.
During the Skozi Zrcalo expedition 1.2 km of new cave passage was found, all of which below 550m, most of which were at least 2 to 3 hours from camp. A new sump was found, as a lead left from last year was pushed to completion. Those figures represent a very high level of achievement for every caver involved, show their determination not to quit and more importantly to share the passion with newer members.
A twenty year long cooperation between the two clubs ICCC and JSPDT has thus been crowned with success once more and the need to go back the following year has never been stronger.
2014 Findings and Report
Surveys
Extended Elevation [ENG] [SLO] (700K PDFs)
Plan [ENG] [SLO] (700K PDFs)
SVG and other content on GitHub
Further resources
We're back after a succesful expo (~1.2 km found); social media links have more news, photographs and drone footage:
Facebook Event - photos and personnel contacts
Jarv's Blog Post Writeup
Jarv's YouTube Vids
Migovec Microblog (actively updated between 2011-2013)
Background Info
Location
Tolmin is on the edge of the Julian Alps in Western Slovenia. There is a train station at Most na Soci, and buses come up both from Nova Gorica (Gorizia on the Italian side) and Ljublijana. Cheapest flights are generally to Trieste with Ryanair, but also check out Venice and Easyjet to Ljublijana.
Tolminski Migovec can be seen all the way from the Most na Soci lake, and is most easily accessed by driving up to Tolminske Ravne (912m) which has a fully Tarmac'd road built for the hydro electric facility. The walking track then takes you up to 1500m through switchbacks in the forest (very sticky when its hot in the valley) to Planina Kal (aka. The Shepherd's Huts). From here take the middle path that heads straight up (via switchbacks) towards Mig before heading north along the edge of the plateau, before the final set of switchbacks and scree to gain the Gateway.
Sponsorship and Thanks
Ghar Parau Foundation - Expedition equipment fund (rope!).
Starless River - Expedition equipment & advice.