ვერიოვკინის მღვიმე

Вериовкин иҳаҧы - Veryovkina - Verëvkina

Useful Information

Location:	Orte-Balagan. Arabika Massif, Western Caucasus, Abkhazia region. (43.415556, 40.356389)
Open:	not open to the public. [2021]
Fee:	not open to the public. [2021]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring own
Dimension:	L=12,700 m, VR=2,212 m, A=2,285 m asl.
Guided tours:	cavers only
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Veryovkina.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1968	cave discovered by cavers from Krasnoyarsk and assigned the name S-115.
1982	cave discovered for the second time by the expedition of the "Perovo" speleoclub from Moscow, named P1-7.
1983	cave diver Alexander Verëvkin dies in the cave Su-Akan while exploring a siphon.
1986	cavers from Perovo speleoclub reach a depth of 440 m, cave renamed after Alexander Verëvkin.
2015	after decades without research and 15 years of fruitless research the descending shaft is finally discovered.
AUG-2017	Perovo speleoclub reaches the depth of 2,204 m and cave becomes the deepest cave of the world.
2021	body of a tourist found at -1100 m.

Description

Veryovkina is the deepest cave of the world. Located close to the former deepest cave Voronya Pestera, it has the same lower level, but it extends further up the mountainside. The cave is a series of rather deep shafts and only accessible to very skilled cavers with enough rope. The cave is really remote and access on the surface would require several days of hiking, and all material must be carried up on the mountain on ones back. This would require numerous sherpas. Exploration of the caves in this area is typically made by flying up the cave entrance with a chartered helicopter.

The cave has been known for a long time, it was actually discovered twice by different caving clubs. The Moscow speleoclub Perovo who rediscovered it in 1982 did some research and reached a depth of 400 m. They resumed exploration in 2000 but could not find the lower pars. Finally, in 2015, they discovered a new shaft and in only three years they reached a depth of −2,100 m which made the cave the deepest cave of the world in 2017. In 2018 they reached the final depth of 2,212 m. At this point is a sump and the cave continues under water, which is at the current state of technology not accessible. What makes the cave different from nearby Voronya cave, the former deepest cave, is the fact that it has a vast horizontal level at the lower end. The cave has a total length of 12 km, which is also quite exceptional.

A really strange event happened in 2019, when the cavers discovered a dead body in the cave at -1,100 m. Sergei Kozeev from Sochi in Russia had left his home on 01-NOV-2018 and went alone to Veryovkina and descended to the permanent bivouac at -600 m. Here he staýed for a week and then went further down. At -1,100 m he was stuck due to inadequate equipment and skills, and died of hypothermia. It is quite impressive, that he actually reached this point. He was definitely a good climber and very fit. Unfortunately he was not a caver, otherwise he would have known the basic rule: never cave alone! The body was eventually recovered in 2021.