Migovec Cave Exploration
The Expedition - An Introduction
Imperial College Caving Club has run joint expeditions with the JSPDT to the Julian alps in Western Slovenia most summers since 1994. The destination is Tolminski Migovec ('Mig'), a large undulating limestone plateau located about 6km north of the town of Tolmin within the Triglav national park. The expedition is also known as 'Expo' and 'Slov'.
Located midway between Tolminski Kuk and Vogel at approximately N 46 15' E 013 45' (Google Maps Satellite Data), the large area offers enormous scope for further cave development.
Expedition base camp is located at 1880m above sea level on the western edge of the plateau, with the bivi situated in a large shakehole benefiting from the shelter of a [distinctly unstable looking] rock bridge.
A guided tour of the Bivi by Jarvist Frost, recorded during 2017's expedition Čez Rob
Reports, Surveys and Data
Every year we take hundreds of photos, survey our new findings, and produce an extensive written report and full drawn surveys of the entire cave system. You'll find those all on this subsite. Each year has a page dedicated to it; check the menu on the left.
All of our cave data, updated and worked on throughout the year, is freely accessible in our Github repo.. We are currently redrawing the entire cave system in Therion, and the drawn surveys are now produced automatically and can be found here.
We have also produced books full of entertaining stories, anecdotes, maps, surveys and cartoons from the expedition from it's beginning up to 2006 and from 2012 to 2017. These are The Hollow Mountain 1 and the The Hollow Mountain 3 and they are available for free as a PDF or for printing on demand. Work on The Hollow Mountain II (2006-2012) is underway.
The full expedition from the UK was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visits carried out by ICCC member Tanguy Racine during those years are documented on this site. The expedition recommenced in 2022.
Latest News
The 2024 expedition has just concluded. Watch this space for updates.
Check out the latest output from the 2023 expedition.
Information for Novices
This wiki covers almost everything that new members heading out on their first expedition (novices, nicknamed Slovices) will need to know.