Welcome to the Planetcaver blog, featuring stories from caves and
underground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a
beginner caver. The Planetcaver has explored underground places in
30 countries and 486 locations (348 natural and 141 man-made). You can also click on the map
on the left to see where in the world they took place.
Tower and Cave in Alíartos A random discovery while driving through Greece's small mountain towns. A massive hole by the road, with a tower on of the rock hill. This was so sudden that I didn't even think of registering the location or stopping. And I was in a rush to get to the ski area anyway. Full story
(TGR version)
Beach without sunshine The Cave of the Seals Imagine summer. Imagine a nice beach in a southern country, like Greece. Way too hot! How about a beach in a cave, so that you don't have to get sun cream out? This, and so much more you can get in the Cave of the Seals, north of Corinth and Loutraki and on the Perachora peninsula. An hour from Athens. Full story
(TGR version)
February 2023, Cave of the Seals, Perachora, Greece Hiking; Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
Cave Lakes World's Highest Cave Pools in Greece A loved child has many names: Kastria Cave, Cave Lakes, Troupisio, and, of course, Σπήλαιο των Λιμνών. I'm in Peloponnese, few hours west of Athens. And in the village of Kastria, in the municipal region of Klitoria. Full story
(TGR version)
February 2023, Cave Lakes, Klitoria, Greece Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Showtour)
3D-printing 3D-scans of caves Can we copy a cave, by scanning it with an iPhone lidar, then printing a model of the cave using a 3D printer? The short answers is yes, but there's a lot of complexities, and it is not as easy as one might initially think. Full story
(TGR version)
February 2023, Lukupuro, Espoo, Finland Caving (None, Surveying, Research)
I don't know what this is, but it looks somehow familiar... Greetings from your sewer inspectors! This adventure in Ancient Corinth, Greece, started in a very promising way: why not visit a cave whose name is Σπηλιά «αιδοίο» της Αφροδίτης, or, Aphrodite's you-know-what? And I have to say, it does look very familiar, in fact it looks exactly like the Finnish Högberget cave. See below: Full story
(TGR version)
February 2023, Σπηλιά «αιδοίο» της Αφροδίτης, Archea Corinthos, Greece Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Unknown, Surveying)
Cave inside the Tatra Mountains Belianska Jaskyňa Wow, another cave country! Slovakia is I think my 28th country where I've been underground. Belianska Jaskyňa is the largest cave open to the public in the Tatra Mountain region in Slovakia. At the length of 3681 meters it is quite big. And, remarkably the tour actually is quite long, rising over a hundred meters in vertical as well inside the cave. And almost two kilometers long! One of the best walking cave tours I've been on. Full story
January 2023, Belianska jaskyňa, Vysoké Tatry-Tatranská Kotlina, Slovakia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Showtour)
Pećina Beli Kop Pećina Beli Kop is a small cave in Sremski Karlovci, in mid-western Serbia, northwest of Belgrade. The coordinates are N 45.13654 E 19.85772. The cave sits under a sandstone cliff that appears to have eroded, forming the cave. The cave floor is actually a large sandpit itself, and difficult to walk up and down. Full story
December 2022, Pećina Beli Kop, Sremski Karlovci, Serbia Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Sandstone, Morphology-Erosion, Surveying)
Caving images generated by DALL-E Wow. I've seen DALL-E's pictures from other topics elsewhere previously, but now I tried it myself for caving. And since we just had the pre-Xmas party of our association in the cave, I gave the AI the task of imagining what it would look like. True to its style, the generated images are mixture of amazing with some very disturbing undertones. Full story
(TGR version)
November 2022, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (Media)
Caver's club Xmas in a cave The Finnish caving association, Luolaseura, has a tradition to hold pre-Xmas parties. This time we started it in a warm place ... in the Grottberget cave in Siuntio. And it was surprisingly warm, I guess because the cave entrance is lower than the cave itself. And with a dozen cavers in this small cave, it also heated up quickly. I really liked the old style oil lamps. And the cave dog! Full story
November 2022, Grottbergetin luola, Siuntio, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Social, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crystallization)
Vantaa is too tight We went for a short caving trip in Vantaa... visiting our old friend Kalkkikallion ketunluola. It is still a great small cave, dark and tight. But one of the other caves, Kalkkikallion matalan katon luola (the low roof cave) was even more interesting. I had been there before, and didn't want to go through between the two entrances. Now I tried again... and still didn't want to go through. The cave gets progressively lower between two rock layers, and just before exit it is less than 20 cm... maybe someone else wants to try? Full story
September 2022, Kalkkikallion kivikatoksen luola, Vantaa, Finland; Kalkkikallion nuotiopaikan luola, Vantaa, Finland; Kalkkikallion matalan katon luola, Vantaa, Finland; Kalkkikallion ketunluola, Vantaa, Finland Caving (Basic, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Crack, Rock, Rock-Gneiss); Caving (Basic, Surveying, Morphology-Karst, Morphology-Crack, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Rock-Limestone)
Kipontie, what a wonderful Finnish cave! Why look for limestone caves and stalactites, when in Finland you can find moss-stalactites? And besides stalactites, the Kipontien luola (cave of the scoop road) is an exceptionally nice experience. Most Finnish caves are cracks on a cliff or space under boulders. But Kipontie is a hole in the ground, on a more or less level surface, even if inside you can see that it is made up of cracks and boulders. But it is dark, it is tight, actually make that very tight, and downright claustrophobia inducing hell hole. Just like caves should be! Full story
(TGR version)
September 2022, Kipontien luola, Orivesi, Finland Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Crack)
Schneefleckhöhle Continuing my quest for using lidar in newest phones to build 3D models of caves. Here we have a scan of the Schneefleckhöhle, a 160-meter marble cave in the Zillertal mountains in Austria. The cave has been scanned with iPhone 12 Pro and Polycam, using lights and the phone mounted on a Benro selfie stick. Scanned segments were put together in Blender and used for fly-through animation. I can also feed the 3D model to my "Cave Outliner" software that draws a plan view map and cross sections based on the model. Lots to improve in various pieces of software, and scanning an entire complex form is very hard. While all of this is very experimental, bleeding edge technology it is also very exciting, and already offers some stunning views onto a caves. Full story
(TGR version)
August 2022, Schneefleckhöhle, Hintertux, Zillertal, Austria Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Marble, Morphology-Erosion)
Schraubenfallhöhle Schraubenfallhöhle is a cave, an underground river. It starts from one raging waterfall of the Tuxbach dropping into a wide hole in the ground, and emerges a bit later to start another waterfall. It is located by the end of the Hintertux valley, right by the lowest lift station taking people up to the Hintertux glacier. Full story
August 2022, Schraubenfallhöhle, Hintertux, Zillertal, Austria; Schraubenfallhöhle kleine Seitenhöhle 1, Hintertux, Zillertal, Austria; Schraubenfallhöhle kleine Seitenhöhle 2, Hintertux, Zillertal, Austria Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Marble, Morphology-Erosion); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Marble, Morphology-Erosion, Surveying)
Jeskyně Postojna -- Czech Edition Jeskyně Postojna famous, massive cave in Slovenia. We are on our way to a Jeskyně Postojna. But not the one in Slovenia... a smaller one in northern Czech Republic. This cave, Postonja cave, was named after farmers' shouts as they kept shouting for their sheep "wait little one" ("postüj malá"). While the cave is not huge, it was a very nice cave to crawl through. Soft, dry sand at the bottom... smooth, round surfaces, tiny holes to squeeze through. A great exploration, with also countless other smaller caves around in the so called Klokočské Rocks natural park. There must be thousands and thousands of holes here, wondering if everything's been researched and looked into? Full story
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July 2022, Jeskyně Postojna, Mírová pod Kozákovem, Czech Republic; Jeskyně Postojna první boční jeskyně, Mírová pod Kozákovem, Czech Republic; Jeskyně Postojna druhá boční jeskyně, Mírová pod Kozákovem, Czech Republic Caving (Rock, Basic, Surveying, Rock-Sandstone)
Grafenloch and Rossstall cave maps I visited these caves last year, but now have software to produce a map of them. Full story
(TGR version)
July 2022, Grafenloch, Oberaudorf, Germany; Rossstall, Oberaudorf, Germany Caving (Surveying)
Summer meetup at the Cave Association I visited the summer meeting, with my loaner dog... did not have time for the actual cave visits. Well, I've been to the area caves already. But they might have found some smaller ones from the forests, and be bitten by mosquitoes :-) But the rest of it was a lot of fun, sauna, swim, eat! Full story
July 2022, Ilvesjoki Caving Association Headquarters, Ilvesjoki, Finland Caving (Social, Research)
Jabba the Hutt makes an appearance in a Philadelphia cave! Crystal Caves here, there, everywhere! I had an uncanny feeling that I've been before to a Crystal Cave, but hey, everybody's entitled to have a crystal cave, no? And this everybody isn't just anybody, it is somebody. Jabba the Hutt, to be precise! Full story
July 2022, Crystal Cave, Richmond, Pennsylvania, USA Caving (Basic, Morphology-Karst, Rock, Rock-Limestone)
Lost River Caverns On my work trip to Philadelphia, I also managed to visit the Lost River Caverns, an hour and half from the city. What a wonderful display of colors and cave forms! Full story
July 2022, Lost River Caverns, Hellertown, Pennsylvania, USA Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, )
Sutro Baths Tunnels The Sutro Baths were luxurious swimming pools on the San Francisco seafront, in an almost all glass building, built in the 1890s. Complete with salt and freshwater pools, slides, and 30 swinging rings, and a springboard. It was served by two rail lines, one of these being the Sutro Railroad, another creation of Adolph Sutro, a famous engineer and industrialist and mayor of San Francisco! In the 1900s the facility fell into disrepair and it burned down in 1966. Today only ruins remain, including the pool basins, a settling pool, and tunnels. Full story
(TGR version)
May 2022, Sutro Baths, San Francisco, USA Urban-Exploration (Ruins, Tunnels); Caving (Basic, Man-Made)
Maanala - Manala Went to the Amos Rex art installation today, on the topic of subterranean matters... with friends from the Finnish Caving Association. Only that it wasn't just about subterranean, it was underground things but also hell, evilness, and devilish matters. It took a while for me to understand this, because I of course associate underground things as interesting and fun, not as dark hellish situations. Full story
May 2022, Amos Rex, Helsinki, Finland Caving (None, Media, Social)
Moaning Caverns adventure tour Moaning Caverns is a limestone-marble solutional cave in Vallecito, California. It is about 200 kilometers east of San Francisco, on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The main show cave attraction is the 165-feet high massive hole, but the cave extends further down in smaller passages under the big room, getting to a depth of 410 feet or 120 meters. An adventure tour explores some of these parts, which is why I was here. But there are other interesting aspects of the cave as well -- at the bottom of the main room there's a large pile of animal and human bones, presumably from whoever fell down to their fate here. Full story
(TGR version)
May 2022, Moaning Caverns, Vallecito, California, USA Caving (Basic, Rock, Surveying, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst)
Zagrebenje bunker maze Croatian islands have had a military past. During World War II when Tito held his headquarters on the island of Vis. After the war, Vis was turned into a defense bastion, and only opened for foreigners as late as in 1989. Today we toured a maze of tunnels on the Zagrebenje mountains on the southeast corner of the island, connecting a number gun positions. Full story
Laitamaa - Sidecountry - mini-cavelets I needed some exercise, so went for a snowshoe walk with Jarmo. On his suggestion we ended up going to Laitamaa, an area of Kirkkonummi where we've previously seen many small caves. Full story
Helsingin Sanomat published 3D cave models! The main newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat, published a story from visiting three caves in the Helsinki region with Harri-Pekka Pietikäinen, the author of a recent caving book. Full story
April 2022, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland; Grottbergetin luola, Siuntio, Finland; Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Surveying, Basic, Rock, Media)
Make the trip to the airport count Conference is over, time to head to the airport. How about an early wakeup, and trying to make the trip count as something interesting? I headed to the hotel sauna, then hit slopes in Semmering (one hour away), climbed and lidar-scanned a couple of caves, and still had time to check the apres ski in St. Corona ski resort :-) There was none. Full story
(TGR version)
March 2022, Hilton Vienna Park, Vienna, Austria; Semmering, Austria; St. Corona, Austria; Semmeringhalbhöhle, Semmering, Austria; Schrägaufzughöhle, Semmering, Austria Sauna (Normal); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Basic, Surveying, Rock-Limestone); Climbing (Mountain)
Baumannshöhle Running into an unexpected cave during travels? Very nice. To a show cave that was opened in 1646? Even nicer! We were on our way to visit the ski hills in the Harz region in Germany when there was a sign for a show cave -- the Baumannshöhle. Upon returning from skiing, we were able to visit the cave as well, just before it closed. Full story
(TGR version)
March 2022, Baumannshöhle, Harz, Germany Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Karst, Rock-Limestone)
Cyclop's Cave I had an opportunity to visit Cyprus this week, and, of course, there were also some caves. The Cyclop's Cave is on the south-east end of the island, a nice 23 m x 24 m cave with a sand floor and a thin rock cover above. Right on the beach, with great sunset views. But this is also likely not the "real" Cyclop's cave from the historic tales, that is in Greece. Full story
(TGR version)
February 2022, Cyclop's Cave, Paralimni, Cyprus Caving (Basic, Rock, Surveying)
Mysterious delivery What's this? A mysterious packet in the mail ... wonder what it is? Full story
February 2022, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Media)
Apartment Carved out of Stone Coming back from the skiing on the Mount Olympus and Troodos Mountains in Cyprus, I was driving by an area that had reported some kind of underground passage. I stopped to find out what it was about. From the map it looked like it was near a road, but it turned out to be only near some kind of agricultural path, and a kilometer or two from the drivable public roads. Well, why not walk to the darkness on the first night in a country you've never been to... Full story
February 2022, Σπηλιά του Μούλου, Troodos Mountains, Cyprus Urban-Exploration (Other, Bunkers); Caving (Basic, Rock, Man-Made)
Automatically generated cave maps from Austria In August I visited Austria, and was able to hike to the Tischofer höhle and Hyänen höhle caves. Back then, I took 3D scans of the caves. Having worked with automatic construction of cave maps since then, six months later I'm now starting to have a capability to run these models through the Cave Outliner and get plan and cross section views out. Pretty interesting work, by no means done but lets see where this path leads us to! Full story
(TGR version)
January 2022, Tischofer Höhle, Kaisertal, Kufstein, Austria; Hyänen Höhle, Kaisertal, Kufstein, Austria Caving (Basic, Rock, Surveying, Equipment, Researching, Rock-Limestone)
Großer Bunkerberg Großer Bunkerberg is the name of the Berlin ruble mountain in Volkspark Friedrichshain. It housed previously one of Berlin's air defense 'flak towers', the Flakturm II G. Only a small corner of the blown up tower is still visible on the site, at the top of a large hill. Full story
Kollinluola - cave of the tomcat Just before the caver's pre-xmas party, I visited 'Kollinluola' - the cave of the tomcat. Or, the cave of Juho Korkiakoski who was also called Kolli. It is a small cave under rocks. Full story
November 2021, Kollinluola, Jalasjärvi, Finland; Pirunpesä, Jalasjärvi, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Surveying); Caving (None)
First publication in a Swedish caving magazine! My article on 3D modelling in Lummelunda was published in the Swedish Caver's Association's 'Grottan' (cave) magazine. Nice! The magazine was delivered to me rolled :-) Full story
November 2021, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Caver's meetup in -17 degrees Caver’s meetup, warm even if -17 and interesting short films at Kino Jalasjärvi. And my Volvo made it 350 km away, furthest it has been! But will it last the way back? The summer’s trip reliability was 85% - what we call in the industry with the technical term “almost one nine reliability”. So the odds are pretty good! Full story
November 2021, Jalasjärven Kino, Jalasjärvi, Finland Caving (None, Social, Research)
Climbing to the Grafenloch cave Grafenloch -- also called Luegsteinhöhle -- is a cave on a massive cliff face above the villages of Luegstein and Oberaudorf. A smallish cave, maybe 22-25 meters deep. But an interesting small hike of about 40 minutes to get to it. And an interesting last few meters to climb to the cave on the cliff face. Assisted with a rope and metal stairs, but still. Full story
(TGR version)
September 2021, Grafenloch, Oberaudorf, Germany; Rossstall, Oberaudorf, Germany Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Surveying); Hiking
Birthday trip, full of fun! How much fun can you pack into one birthday trip? I started with a drink ... non-alcoholic, of course. And then things starting going faster after that: a sauna at the Oberstegen, continued with skiing on the Hintertux Glacier, went for a SUP paddling tour in an ice cave river under that glacier, and ended up climbing to the Grafenloch and Rossstall caves, and doing a 3D model of them. Not bad, and that was just the first day! Maybe for my next birthday I'll try to come with an active program. Full story
(TGR version)
First publication in a UK caving magazine! https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nt6U1SyJuMM/YU_zjznDQtI/AAAAAAAB3IE/zYG_FKdnSzQMROyxAHecCKvT1vuQICn5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/blog964_cover.jpg Full story
September 2021, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Surveying, Researching, Equipment, Media)
Finally, a SUP hobby that I can get excited about. Underground. I had been to Eispalast before. It is an ice cave that tourists can visit, 30 meters under glacier, near the top of the Gefrorene Wand mountain in Hintertux, Austria. But when I saw they had an option for trying SUP boarding on the river or lake in the ice cave, I knew I had to go again. Full story
(TGR version)
September 2021, Hintertuxer Gletscher Eispalast, Hintertux, Austria Caving (Basic, Ice, Boating, Surveying)
Tischofer Höhle Such a nice hike. If it weren't for the missing piece of the path, at least. But I finally made it to the Tischofer Höhle, a cave in Kaisertal, near Kufstein, Austria. What a wonderful cave, easy to visit if one picks the right path to get there. And despite being only 40 meters long it is a large cavern, with a large opening and large hall inside. Full story
(TGR version)
August 2021, Tischofer Höhle, Kaisertal, Kufstein, Austria; Hyänen Höhle, Kaisertal, Kufstein, Austria Caving (Rock, Basic, Surveying, Rock-Limestone); Hiking
Another visit to Högberget New signs lead visitors to the right place! Well done, Ratsutila Wikner! Full story
July 2021, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Equipment, Morphology-Erosion)
Solamäki tour Kari Vierinen organizes nature appreciation walks in Siuntio, and he called me to join their walk to the Solamäki caves in Siuntio. It was a very nice experience, particularly with the new information about paintings in the cave that Kari was able to tell us about. Full story
(TGR version)
June 2021, Solamäen luola, Siuntio, Finland; Solamäen luolan halkeamasivuluola, Siuntio, Finland; Solamäen siirtolohkareluola, Siuntio, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Crack); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders)
Kattilajärvi cave walk with Jarmo Last winter I explored the far reaches of the Kattilajärvi on snow shoes, and found several new small caves. But also ran out of time to explore them further, and the heavy snow cover didn't make it easy to explore the boulder caves. I wanted to return during the summer, and now Jarmo and I hiked around the Lippukallio are east of Kattilajärvi. And wow, many new small caves, and we realized one of the boulder caves I had seen in the winter was actually quite big. Three levels, complex maze, shaky moving boulders... nice! Full story
(TGR version)
First 3D modelling of Lummelunda Grottan Earlier this week I visited the caver's camp in Lummelunda in Gotland. What a wonderful event, happy to be able to go there again! One of things I did was to see if I could build a 3D model of the cave using LiDAR in the newest iPhones. I was able to start the project at least, here are some early results of the 450 meters or so that I modelled. Full story
(TGR version)
June 2021, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Equipment, Surveying)
Saunalahti hole I was originally going to explore bigger caves in Nuuksio this weekend with Jarmo, but I forgot that I was dogsitting Olli's dog while they were moving. I couldn't take the dog to long hike and boulder fields, so ended up doing nice walks in the seafront during the weekend. One of those walks to go see the Saunalahti hole, a small crystallization hole in an otherwise solid ground rock. Full story
May 2021, Saunalahden onkalo, Espoo, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Crystallization, Rock-Gneiss)
Herttoniemi boulder underside While visiting (again) the secret Margarine factory tunnel, I came across a small boulder cavelet in Herttoniemi. Full story
May 2021, Herttoniemen kivenalus, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Basic, Morphology-Boulders, Rock, Rock-Gneiss)
Avalanche transceivers as cave location devices? A while ago, Bo Lenander asked a question in the Swedish Caver's Association if avalanche transceivers could be used as cave location beacons. As I have such transceivers, I started looking into this... Full story
(TGR version)
May 2021, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Equipment)
3D Model of the Torhola Cave Digitalisation of caves is proceeding! :-) I now have the first model from a bit larger cave, the Torhola cave in Lohja, southern Finland. This cave is Finland's largest karst cave, with around 100 meters of complex tunnels on 3-4 levels. Full story
(TGR version)
May 2021, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Surveying, Researching, Equipment, Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone)
First cross section from a 3D model I've been trying constructing 3D models from few caves with the LiDAR sensors in iPhone. While I've been able to rotate these models on screen easily, I also wanted to see whether I could construct more traditional maps from these models. But it has been a big learning curve to use the 3D modelling software. Today, with the help of Olli, I finally managed to make my first cross section of a cave model in Blender. Full story
(TGR version)
April 2021, Pääluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland Caving (Surveying, Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders)
Looking for caves in Lohja's Linnanmäki in Karstu The evening's excursion was to Lohja's Karstu area, in search of caves. The Linnanmäki is a high hill and cliff in Karstu, and the book Suomen Luolat notes that there are two caves on the hill. One was supposed to be inaccessible without climbing equipment. But as usual, the coordinates were inaccurate, so I ended up going around the entire hill, and I think found the other cave plus four other small roof/shelter caves. Full story
Grottberget cave I wanted to get some exercise, and ended up walking 3-4 hours on snowshoes in Siuntio. I always need a 2nd goal for such trips, however, and this time it was to visit the Grottberget cave, and see if any of the surrounding cliff areas have additional caves. Full story
March 2021, Grottbergetin luola, Siuntio, Finland; Grottbergetin pikkukolo, Siuntio, Finland; Grottbergetin kivenalus, Siuntio, Finland Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crystallization); Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack); Caving (Basic, Surveying, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders)
Korpikylä boulder cave Korpikylä ("Remote Village") is a region in Hyrylä. I was stopping in Hyrylä for other reasons, and looked on the map for an interesting place to go snowshoeing in. Korpikylä fit the bill, and after some searching for a parking place I headed out for a two-hour nice hike in snowy forest. Full story
Kauniainen cave with a view Cave of the sunset! I guess this just goes to show that no matter how well you know something, there are things you don't yet know. I did a snowshoes hike between Kauniainen and the Glims museum area, and came across a new cave! Full story
March 2021, Auringonlaskun luola, Kauniainen, Finland Snowshoeing (Basic); Caving (Rock, Basic, Rock-Gneiss, Surveying)
More Kauniainen cave maps and 3D models I spent Sunday biking and walking in Kauniainen's forests, mainly in the Kasavuori ("pile mountain") area. I wanted to visit a couple of small holes there are in the cracks and boulders of the rocky landscape on this "mountain". And draw a couple of simple maps about them, and use my new iPhone 12 Pro to record 3D models. Full story
New cave (sort of) in Kauniainen While cataloguing Kauniainen's tiny caves (if one can call them that), I came across another one. A small tunnel between two boulders. The tunnel part is maybe 3 meters (though with a small crack at the top for some part of that). Full story
March 2021, Kahden kiven luola, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (Rock, Basic, Surveying, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders)
LiDAR 3D modelling caves and bunkers I continued my earlier underground tests with iPhone 12 Pro's LiDAR sensor and software. This time I started testing the 3D modelling software. Can we produce an accurate 3D model of a cave using these sensors and software? Full story
(TGR version)
February 2021, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Ansabunkkeri, Siuntio, Finland Caving (Rock, Basic, Equipment); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Equipment)
Högberget in LiDAR We visited the Högberget cave today, to test drive the LiDAR sensor in the iPhone that got today. Pretty interesting! Full story
(TGR version)
February 2021, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Erosion, Equipment)
New Kattilajärvi caves I was hiking around on my snow shoes, going around lake Kattilajärvi in Nuuksio. I was there for the sake of a nice walk in the winter weather, but also wanted to check out the many cliffs for possible caves. I've been here before, and saw for instance a wonderful roof cave. But then I came across a big cliff with a number of caves, not reported by others as far as I can tell. Full story
(TGR version)
February 2021, Kattilajärven pikkukolo, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Lippukallion lippaluola, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Lippukallion lohkareluola 1, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Lippukallion lohkareluola 2, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland Caving (Basic, Morphology-Boulders, Rock, Rock-Granite, Surveying); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite, Surveying)
Christmas Caving Christmas seems like a good time to spend on improving your cave lights. Or, "improving" as it may be in my case. But I really like to the colours of the new lights :-) Full story
(TGR version)
December 2020, Lohkarepuristimen luola, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders)
Grottan 3 The third issue of this year's Grottan -- Swedish Caver's Association's magazine -- came in mail today. Full story
November 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Research, Media)
White wall I recently watched the new mini-series "White Wall" on YLE Areena. This is a Finnish-Swedish production. The plot is about a mine being converted to store nuclear waste... until they hit something strange. Full story
November 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Media); Sauna (None, Media)
Strange rock Tero and I were on a trip... while caving was not the main purpose of the trip, as usual I also wanted visit a cave. A promising-looking hole at the Pyhä ski area turned out to not be a human-sized hole. But while returning to the airport in Rovaniemi, we drove south of the city to look at Tapulikallion onkalot (Tapulicliff holes). We founded a very weird, large boulder. Full story
(TGR version)
November 2020, Tapulikallion onkalot, Rovaniemi, Finland Caving (Rock, Basic, Rock-Other, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Weathering)
Dogs and caves in Löpärö Jouni had organized a tour of the Löpärö island in Sipoo for us, including the local guide Jukka showing is the cave locations. I think all of us were expecting a nice walk but pretty small caves. But were were really impressed by what we found! Just take a look at these photos by Jarmo Ruuth! (Also some by Jari or Elena.) Full story
(TGR version)
November 2020, Dyviksbergenin luola, Löpärö, Sipoo, Finland; Dyviksbergenin luola 1, Löpärö, Sipoo, Finland; Långbergetin lohkareluola, Löpärö, Sipoo, Finland; Långbergetin lohkareluolan sivuhuone, Löpärö, Sipoo, Finland; Långbergetin toinen lohkareluola, Löpärö, Sipoo, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Crack); Caving (Basic, Rock); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Crack)
Laukkakoski cave Nice cave, but I had to reverse my car out of the road that led to it. No way to turn around, and road got impassable after a while. Full story
November 2020, Laukkosken luolakallion onkalot, Pornainen, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Crack)
Looking for the Urtvuori cave I spent at least an hour trying to find the cave, despite a tag on the Google Maps from someone, as well as coordinates from the book of Finnish caves. It turned out that the cave can be entered from the middle of the sloping rock face, in the cracks that have opened in it. But what a wonderful cave there was! Full story
October 2020, Urtvuoren luola, Sammatti, Finland; Urtvuoren kalteva rakoluola, Sammatti, Finland; Urtvuoren lippaluola, Sammatti, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Boulders); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack)
Ramunder's stone Right in the middle of Tammisaari there's a classic "stone table", Ramunderinkiven onkalo (The Hole of the Ramunder's stone). Stone tables are stone formations where a rock sits on other stones. Ramunder is the strong man of old tales, and the story is that he threw a large boulder to crush some giants, giants that are now the stones holding up the boulder. Full story
October 2020, Ramunderinkiven onkalo, Tammisaari, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders)
Nice basement The book Finnish Caves (Suomen Luolat) lists several caves in Perniö. I had already been in the 'Hiidenkellari' (Devil's basement), but since I needed to drive through Perniö today on my visit to Tero's summer cottage, I wanted to visit more of the caves. I chose 'Antinmäen Hohteen kellari ja paja' (The basement and workshop at the Antinmäki shine). Full story
October 2020, Antinmäen Hohteen kellari ja paja, Perniö, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Boulders)
Underland I got a tip from Johan at work about an interesting book, one that deals with underground wonders. The book is Underland by Robert MacFarlane. I don't really know yet what's inside, but there was a recommendation in New York Times, that can't be bad :-) Full story
September 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Media)
Limpan's caves An evening outing to a promised 30+ meter cave. Turns out there are three, with the biggest one 45 meters. Roof caves, so not so cave like, dark holes. But rock above your head nevertheless. Also, deer flies. Oh how I love deer flies in my hair. Full story
August 2020, Limpanin lippaluola 1, Siuntio, Finland; Limpanin lippaluola 2, Siuntio, Finland; Limpanin iso lippaluola, Siuntio, Finland Caving (Rock, Basic, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack)
Hyypiänmäki massive roof cave With the new cave map service that we've been building with Ralf, I was able to make more sensible searches for known caves. In the cave map I can select the length of cave, for instance, and look for the bigger ones (albeit all Finnish caves are small). It turned out that there's supposed to be a 50-meter roof cave in Hyypiänmäki, near Klaukkala. Full story
August 2020, Hyypiänmäen lippaluola, Nurmijärvi, Finland; Hyypiänmäen pieni lippaluolanen 1, Nurmijärvi, Finland; Hyypiänmäen pieni lippaluolanen 2, Nurmijärvi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic)
3 times 3 roof caves I recently visited three nearby places that had been listed as having large roof caves (by Finnish standards). And they did indeed deliver on that promise! In addition, I found that the three actually had three roof caves each. Nine cave visits on three trips :-) Full story
Roof caves on Isonniitunmäki Jarmo went further on our search in Vihti, and found some small roof caves. Full story
August 2020, Lippaluolanen 1, Isonniitunmäki, Vihti, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack)
Inside the blown up central nazi navy command bunker. Alone. Need some excitement? Maybe crawling inside a blown-up bunker in the middle of dark forest would help. Hope the Nazi command is no longer on site... and that the ammunition laying in the ground isn't dangerous. Full story
Hiidenkellari. Rare Karst in Finland. Such beautiful pure calcite in the ceiling and floor. And cut so exact, as if by man... but it is the works of chemistry and water. Full story
Siitoonmäen lippaluola -- Roof cave in Nummi-Pusula I've been using the new Luolaseura map app and database to look for nearby caves that I have not been to. This is now much more convenient than it was before :-) You can easily look at, say, all caves bigger than some number of meters and look around you. So, I wanted to go see another 50 meter roof cave that was just 40 minutes drive away. Full story
The Missing Hole Searching for a cave listed in the Finnish book of caves as "unconfirmed". Came up with nothing. Full story
August 2020, Lähderannan kolo, Lähderanta, Espoo, Finland Caving (None)
Myllyjärvi bouldering cliff and roof cave On my way to swimming in Myllyjärvi, I noticed a bouldering cliff, with an overhang. Quite a spectacular roof cave, maybe 35 meters long and 4-5 meters deep. Full story
July 2020, Myllyjärven lippaluola, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic)
More cave searches, based merely on the name Inspired by Ralf's observation of cave-like names in the countryside, I searched for more caves from the Finnish map databases, and came up with some more placed called "Luolamäki" or cave hill. This time near Nummi-Pusula, Lohja, and Vihti. Jarmo, Ralf, and me set out to explore... with no prior knowledge of any caves in this area reported anywhere. Not in the book of Finnish caves, not in Retkipaikka, nowhere. Full story
Tiny cave near Vuohilampi While walking to Vuohilampi for a swim (and eating blueberries), I found a small cave in the woods. Full story
July 2020, Vuohilammen luolanen, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Boulder on Rocks My swim at the Träskbyträsket yielded an unexpected benefit: a boulder cave. A huge piece of rock standing on four other rocks, as if by design. Full story
July 2020, Träskbyträsketin lohkareluola, Långvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders)
The new, blue, Grottan The new Grottan magazine came in mail. Grottan is the magazine for Sweden's Caver's Association, published I think four times a year. Full story
July 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Media)
Going to Rokokallio! Tomorrow I'm going for a caver's association meeting in Rokokallio, Vihti. I've been there before. Actually several times, and I have an unfinished mapping project to complete... Full story
Paimio cave search... on a swamp??? There are a lot of interesting data sources for searching for new caves. There are databases at the national geology research institute [1, 2, 3]. There are reports and books of boulder fields [4,5]. There are websites [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Old newspaper keyword searches [11]. And regular maps [12]. But in addition, there are also names of places. Ralf had found the names Luolaniittu (cave field, on a small hill) and Luolassuo (cave swamp, an actual swamp) in Paimio. I have to say we felt pretty silly standing in the swamp with all our caving gear. Full story
Frozen Brain Lake As I was driving back from Ylläs, I came across an odd sign about Pakasaivo, which translates roughly to "Frozen Brain". What was it? I had to stop and look it up. Soon I was driving the tiny 11-kilometer road to go see it. Full story
June 2020, Pakasaivon pieni kivenkolo, Pakasaivo, Muonio, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic); Hiking
Onkalonperä? Onkalonperä means "the backside of a hole". Fortunately, not "hole in the backside"! I saw this as I was driving towards Ylläs. I don't know anything about it, but are there are any holes or caves in that village? Maybe worth investigating... Full story
June 2020, Onkalonperän risteys, Simo, Finland Caving (None)
Data sources for cave search Yay, a delivery! I got the third book in the series of cave, canyon, and boulder books from Tuomo Kesäläinen and Aimo Kejonen! Very excited to read this as well! Full story
June 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Media, Research)
The book of boulders (Suomen Lohkareet) My earlier post was about data sources for finding new caves. I've now been reading the Suomen Lohkareet (the book of boulders in Finland) book, and it is great. Full story
June 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Research)
Gåskärr cavelets and boulders During the quarantine, I've taken up trying to hike almost every day. It turns out that I can go within just a few kilometers from home and still end up in areas that I've not been to before. The forests not marketed as the hottest hiking areas, etc. And almost every time, there are some tiny rock holes that one could call "cavelets". Full story
Haavikkolehto cave, now with a map! Haavikkolehto - a protected site with many boulders left by the ice age - is also very interesting from caving perspective. Likely not everything here has been found. But the most spectacular cave is known from this Retkipaikka article. Full story
May 2020, Haavikkolehdon karhukiven luola, Suonenjoki, Finland; Haavikkolehdon karhukiven luolan sivulohkareluola, Suonenjoki, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Surveying)
Mapping Grani's caves. If I could only find them... For May 1st, I also wanted to see if I could add Kauniainen to the map with regards to having mapped caves. Full story
(TGR version)
Looking for caves on Nilsiä's Mustikkamäki I'm looking for caves... not for bears. But heard some growling and saw some big piles of sh*t, so decided to do a roundabout tour to return to the car. Full story
May 2020, Ryömittävä lippaluola, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Kololuolanen, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Korkea lippaluola, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Pieni kulmalippaluolanen, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Pieni lippaluolanen 1, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland; Pieni lippaluolanen 2, Mustikkamäki, Nilsiä, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Hiking
Högaberget, Espoo Tiny cavelets on my evening walk again. Full story
Caves in Nuuksio's Katajasuo Research pays off! I wanted to explore more boulder caves, but where to find boulders? I kept looking for data, and it turns out the geologic research institute had made a listing of the most valuable boulder fields in Finland. One of them was nearby, in Nuuksio, so I headed out to investigate on Sunday. No caves had been listed at that spot, but the report already made some promises about cave-like holes between the rocks. And a 50 meters wide and 10 meters deep field! I was hooked. Although it turned out the location was listed after all in the book of cave in Finland (albeit with a different name). Full story
(TGR version)
Kaupunginkallio cavelet I go hiking on a different spot on most days, as my evening exercise. This time in Kaupunginkallio, Espoo. Full story
May 2020, Kaupunginkallion halkeamakolo, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Kattilajärvi roof caves Today's exercise was an excursion to Kattilajärvi, which was reported to have interesting cliffs. There were a couple of small caves and two interesting roof caves. Full story
May 2020, Kattilajärven iso lippaluola, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven kallion lippaluola, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven kalliokolo, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven pieni lippaluola 1, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven pieni lippaluola 2, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland; Kattilajärven pieni lippaluola 3, Nuuksio, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic)
Röylä hike (with cavelets!) Röylä. A place with an ugly name and no one with interest to visit there? Not so. The forests are quite big, and full of cliffs, and indeed, no one goes there so one gets to hike alone :-) Full story
Kirkkonummi Cavelets I realised last week that I need exercise, and sunshine. Today's exercise was to go caving in Kirkkonummi. But I didn't want to visit places that other people would likely be in. So I took the approach of visiting forest areas where there have been NO caves listed. Full story
Stairway to Hea...Bunker Bunker... in Jorvas. With a ladder leading down a tight concrete shaft. How could I resist? Full story
(TGR version)
April 2020, Sähköaseman bunkkeri, Masala, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Lummelunda canceled -( For the last three years, the highlight of my caving year has been the fun, warm, and social camping week at the Lummelunda cave in Gotland. Sadly, I just received a cancellation for the flights to Gotland, due to the virus. I think this year's caving week is therefore cancelled. Full story
April 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Grottan arrived at mailbox No, it is not a rat. It is a Swedish caver's magazine. Grottan is cave in Swedish. Full story
April 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Media)
Virtual caving club meeting. In a cave. Another caver's club virtual meeting! Nice! Since the others played around with nice picture backgrounds, I decided to have a background of my own: in a cave in Korkberget, Kirkkonummi. Full story
April 2020, Korkbergetin lohkareluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Pieni lippaluola 1 pohjoiskärjessä, Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Pieni lippaluola 2 pohjoiskärjessä, Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Social)
Caver's meetup. Virtually. What a wonderful experience - forced to not not have in-person meetings, all kinds of organizations are realising that their meetings *can* be done over network connections, and that the results are often better. We just had a caver's meet-up in Finland, and we chatted longer -- six hours -- than we ever have and had many more people participate than before. Full story
April 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Social)
Lumonite BX caving light repair My best caving light broke down last week on a nightly skiing excursion. I measured it and determined that the likely culprit was broken battery. Today the mail delivered a spare battery, and I installed and voilá, the light works again! Happy about not having to look for a new light. Full story
April 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (Equipment)
Goddarsbölebergen Still in quarantine! So, I'm hiking in a forgotten forest in Kirkkonummi. And found two caves that aren't listed in any of the cave books. One roof cave, visited by climbers for the overhang. But the other one I liked a lot. It is small, but much cave-like, dark, and with a very tight entrance :-) Full story
(TGR version)
April 2020, Goddarsbölebergenin lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Goddarsbölebergenin luola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Goddarsbölebergenin kolmiokolo, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Goddarsbölebergenin pieni lippaluolan kaltainen kalliojyrkänne 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Goddarsbölebergenin pieni lippaluolan kaltainen kalliojyrkänne 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)
Lost Johanneberget cave Jukka performed a search on cave references from the database of the Finnish National Board of Antiquities during our recent virtual meet-up. He came up with a reference to a potentia cave in Espoo that none of us had heard about. Yesterday I went to look for it... Full story
(TGR version)
Map map I have now put up all my Finnish cave maps at the Planetcaver site. There's maps for 34 different caves, almost all of which are in the Kirkkonummi area. A few maps are in the works. Full story
(TGR version)
March 2020, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Titlis caving While skiing on the rainy Titlis, I saw a crack cave by the slopes, and also visited an ice cave for tourists. Full story
Abandoned bunker on Golan Heights What a shitty bunker! Literally. Full story
February 2020, Abandoned bunker, Mount Hermon, Israel Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Desperately seeking... any cave As we returned from the skiing in Israel, I wanted to stop at a cave in Israel. Most of the show caves are closed in the winter, but there should be enough natural caves to visit, right? Not so... we failed to enter the ones we found for various reasons. Full story
February 2020, Пещера, Tiberias, Israel Caving (None)
Cappadocia Massive cities carved inside rock towers. Luxury hotels carved inside cliffs. Sometimes a bad weather closure day can lead to interesting other things. I'm glad we got to visit Cappadocia, Turkey. Full story
(TGR version)
February 2020, Göreme Open Air Museum, Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey Caving (Rock, Man-Made)
Small cave in Obertauern While skiing off the Gamsleiten 2 ski lift in Obertauern, we spotted a potential small cave. It was outside the pistes on a steep slope, but I skied to investigate. And found what would in Finland be classified as a cave: 2-3 meter long roof cave on a cliff. But not in Austria... Full story
January 2020, Small cave, Obertauern, Austria Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Basic)
Re-visiting the Vienna flak towers I was in Vienna already in 2018, but for 2020 Janne and I toured the Vienna museums befor e heading to the ski resorts in Austrian alps. This allowed a new visit to Haus des Meeres, the refurbished bunker-turned-into-and-aquarium, and visits to three other bunkers. Full story
(TGR version)
January 2020, Haus des Meeres, Esterhazypark, Vienna, Austria; Flakturm Stiftskaserne, Vienna, Austria; Feuerleit Flakturm Arenbergpark, Vienna, Austria; Flakturm Arenbergpark, Vienna, Austria Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Military); Caving (Man-Made)
Kettils Grotta Kettils Grotta (Kettil's cave) near the Rosersbergs Castle for an evening hike in the darkness and rain. Full story
January 2020, Kettils Grotta, Rosersbergs Slott, Stockholm, Sweden Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
Vela Spila, Korčula It feels like I'm destined to find closed caves during the winter period. This time I wanted to visit the Vela Spila cave, an archaeologic cave site near Vela Luka, on the island of Korčula in the Croatian archipelago. But, it was closed. Figures. Full story
Vrnjača špilja Google maps promised that it would be open. And it took hours for me to get there. But, no, in the winter season there's no one at the Vrnjača špiljar or the Vranjaca cave, and the gates are closed. What a disappointment! Full story
Nobel's blasting tunnels This seemed like a good time of the year to go explore the start of Nobel industries in Vinterviken. Bunkers, tunnels, testing grounds, and simple factory buildings. Full story
December 2019, Nobel blasting tunnels, Vinterviken, Stockholm, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Historic); Caving (Man-Made)
Squeeze Box Finnish Championships 2019 We have a new Finnish cave squeezing record! At the "little xmas party" of the caving association, Jukka Palm and Mike Kushy both pushed through the squeeze box at just 166 millimeters. And I can't even get my fat head fit inside that distance, let alone other body parts! :-) Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
November 2019, Kangasala, Finland Caving (None, Man-Made)
Caving in Tampere. In a shopping mall. I don't go caving often, but when I do, I want to do it indoors in a dry, clean environment that is safe for everyone. I have to say that I did not expect much from the caving adventure park at the Tampere shopping mall, but I was blown away by how good this place was. Much recommended! Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
November 2019, Irti Maasta, Tullintori, Tampere, Finland Caving (Man-Made, Social); Swimming (Indoor, Balls)
Seah Im Bunker Once my meeting ended, I wanted to use the couple of hours I had for exploration, and got Tero to join me. I've already covered the Singapore caves and skiing... what remained was bunkers! Full story
(TGR version)
November 2019, Seah Im Bunker, Keppel Hill, Singapore, Singapore Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Banff Mountain Festival 2019 This evening I'm at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Helsinki. The movies are about skiing, mountain biking, surfing, and caving. Looking forward to the film's, they've always been powerful stories. Full story
October 2019, Savoy Theater, Helsinki, Finland Skiing (None, Social, Media); Caving (None, Media, Social)
Caving equipment store? I got an advertisement today from Verkkokauppa.com, a Finnish electronics store. The advertisement goes "everything for any cave" (or "kaikkea löytyy luolaan kuin luolaan" in Finnish). I think they meant to man caves etc, but I immediately headed to the shop to see if there was caving equipment to be bought :-) Full story
October 2019, Verkkokauppa.com, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Equipment)
The Eyes of God Prohodna Cave An hour and half from Sofia lies the Prohodna Cave. This is a massive and easy-to-visit cave for everyone, including busloads of tourists. And who wouldn't want to look at the Eyes of God? Full story
(TGR version)
September 2019, Prohodna Cave, Karlukovo, Bulgaria; Prohodna Cave side caves 1, Karlukovo, Bulgaria; Prohodna Cave side caves 2, Karlukovo, Bulgaria; Prohodna Cave side caves 3, Karlukovo, Bulgaria; Prohodna Cave side caves 4, Karlukovo, Bulgaria Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Monsters in the Duhlata Cave If you go deep into a cave, you may encounter monsters! Or at least, white stalactite dental work :-) Full story
Cave Church Budapest's Gellérthegyi Barlan (or the Gellért hill cave) is a cave turned into hermit's hideout, turned into peasant home, turned into a church, and then closed and sealed behind a concrete wall by the communists. Oh, and the communists also executed the head monk. Full story
August 2019, Gellért hill cave, Budapest, Hungary Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
More cave A sign for a cave? Intrigued. It turns out that it leads to the "Cave Bar More", one of the bar's listed in Business Insider's 50 incredible bars you should drink at in your lifetime list. Full story
August 2019, Cave Bar More, Dubrovnik, Croatia Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Massive crack cave at Korkberget Korkberget is probably Finland's largest cave, with 300+ meters of tight tunnels underneath massive boulders. But, there's also a cliff... and if you climb half-way up the cliff, you will find an amazing crack that leads underground. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
August 2019, Korkbergetin halkeamaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Climbing (Rock)
Tito's cave Tito was hiding out on the Vis island during WW2, reportedly on small mountaintop caves. Steps lead to the caves today from the Mount Hum road, and they can be easily visited. Full story
Veliki Slap Cave In the summer I hiked around the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. It has some well known caves (more of them in another blog article) but I also run into a small cave on the path to the biggest, 78-meter waterfall, Veliki Slap. Full story
(TGR version)
August 2019, Veliki Slap cave, Plitvice Lakes, Croatia Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Military tunnels deep inside Mali Hum The taxi drivers are a great information source. This time I asked about a hole in a cliff face, and got all the information I needed to visit it later. And it should be a safe place to go to... Full story
(TGR version)
August 2019, Mali Hum Tunnels, Vis, Croatia Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Bunkers)
Siuntio bunker tips from Dutch tourists Having researched the locations of the Russian bunkers in Porkkala for years, I was surprised to learn the location of another bunker from Dutch tourists on their first day of visiting Finland. They pointed us to a small bunker few hundred meters from the large one we had visited earlier, based on their geocaching explorations. Full story
August 2019, Siuntion täytetty pikkubunkkeri, Siuntio, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Hiking to the abandoned missile base The base is not easy to find; there's a lot of tours on sale to visit the military wonders of Vis, but little actual information. I discovered the location of the base by looking at Google Maps satellite photos, but the Secret Croatia blog also helped... Full story
August 2019, Vis missile base, Vis, Croatia Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Copying adults Influence ... one has to be careful with that. I took my sister's twins today to their first cave. At first they were a bit scared, but soon they had helmets on, one was holding my camera and the photographing the other one going through the cave. I wonder where they learned that? :-) Full story
July 2019, Hiidenkiven luola, Nurmijärvi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
Labirintus Lost in Count Dracula's Prison A maze of caves and underground prison cells, cages, darkness, fog, and Dracula? Sign me up please! Full story
(TGR version)
July 2019, Labirintus, Budapest, Hungary Caving (Man-Made, Rock); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Prisons)
Hunting for the Sarfvik Secrets I went on a long bike trip today with Jarmo, to explore the Sarfvik area in Kirkkonummi. This large area of farms, forests and seafront is blocked for public road access by the local residents. Why? You can still explore the area on foot, but the walks are long. But in the summer biking is an option. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
July 2019, Abramsbyn bunkkeri, Sarfvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Golfkentän pieni siirtolohkareluola, Sarfvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made, Rock)
Hospital in the Rock A vacation isn't a vacation unless one can visit another nuclear bunker! Full story
(TGR version)
July 2019, Hospital in the Rock, Budapest, Hungary Caving (Man-Made, Rock); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers)
Gorgas Creek Cave Cave in a park in Philadelphia? Unreal... Full story
(TGR version)
July 2019, Gorgas Creek Cave, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Quarries)
Day at the beach (underground) My vacation started after midsummer. And the first thing one does on a vacation is to go on a beach, of course. Underground. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
June 2019, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Boating, Swimming); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Underground, Waterbody-Cave)
Snow White Hall Photography Trip Jukka and I wanted to continue our photography experiments further up in the Lummelunda cave. The most interesting stalactites are in the Snow White Hall (Snövitsalen), beyond the half-way point in the cave. This turned out to be a very long trip, however, and one where we run out of all of our lights... Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
June 2019, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Boating, Swimming); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Underground, Waterbody-Cave)
Leppävaara mining Today's abandoned mine exploration was in Leppävaara. Full story
June 2019, Kaivoskallion louhos, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Kaivoskallion siirtolohkareen alusluola, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland Urban-Exploration (Quarries); Caving (Man-Made)
EuroSpeleo, here I come! Today I managed to sign up for the EuroSpeleo 2019, this time happening near Sofia in Bulgaria! Full story
June 2019, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Lummelunda, here I come! Lummelunda week is coming up AND I'M GOING AGAIN! WOOHOOO! Full story
May 2019, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Boating, Swimming); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Underground, Waterbody-Cave)
Banksy tunnel While in London, we happened to walk through the Banksy Tunnel, a pedestrian walkway tunnel where graffiti is ... tolerated if not legal. Pretty nice! Full story
May 2019, Leake Street, London, United Kingdom Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
Boozetunnel Booze tunnel in Helsinki... not from prohibition times but built between Alko's factory and warehouse. Decommissioned, now as a reserve shelter. The tunnel is underneath the Ruoholahti mall, in floor -6... deep under everything else. So deep that it is even underneath the kid amusement park Hoplop in floor -5 :-) Full story
May 2019, Ruoholahden kauppakeskus, Helsinki, Finland Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
Crack between the plates I knew that there are tectonic plates, but I had no idea one can walk in the crack between them. But in Thingvellir, Iceland it is possible. Full story
May 2019, Thingvellir, Iceland Caving (None)
Underground Tallinn I had an opportunity to visit Tallinn for a couple of hours yesterday, and the obvious question was whether there'd be anything underground to visit. And there is, Kiek in de Kök bastion tunnels. But, they were closed on Monday. Luckily, however, we run into an old bunker under the Tallinn Meremuuseum. Full story
April 2019, Tallinna linnamüür, Tallinn, Estonia; Bunker under Eesti Meremuuseum, Tallinn, Estonia Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Leppävaara fortifications Jarmo and I visited the Leppävaara area fortifications, inspired by Tony Hagerlund's excellent blogs about them. There's plenty of trenches and also bunkers! These are World War I era fortifications built in a circle around Helsinki. We also found a small natural cave under a boulder! Full story
Small caves in Hvitträsk I had earlier visited Hvitträsk with Janne for the rock painting there's on a cliff. Back then we had also seen a small boulder cave. This time we returned with Jarmo, flew the drone for some video, and also found a total of seven small caves, three of which may be too small to enter but the others are clearly small caves. Full story
(TGR version)
R2-D2 bunker A bunker. A ventilation shaft. R2-D2 mod. What's not to like? Full story
(TGR version)
March 2019, R2-D2, Folimanka Park, Prague, Czech Republic Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Communism and bunker tour Lets say that the tour guide was not a big fan of communism. Full story
(TGR version)
March 2019, Parukarka Park bunker, Prague, Czech Republic Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
The Lava Tunnel We had half a day in Reykjavik, and besides visiting a thermal bath, what could we do? Obviously, visit a cave... a lava tube. Or the Lava Tunnel, few kilometres outside the city (coordinates: N 63.9402 W 21.3971). Full story
(TGR version)
February 2019, The Lava Tunnel, Reykjavik, Iceland Caving (Rock, Rock-Volcanic, Morphology-Volcanic, Basic, Showtour)
The Luola Magazine The "Luola" magazine from the Finnish Caving Association dropped into the mailbox today. Nice! And of course, we got two copies because there's two members in the household... Full story
February 2019, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None, Media)
Cave in Laajalahti? ... or not? Espoo. While looking for the remains of fortifications in Laajalahti, I came across a possible small roof cave. Small, but maybe worth documenting since there are really very few caves in Espoo. But the question is, is this a natural cave or remains of fortifications or quarry operations in the area? Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2018, Laajalahden lippaluola, Espoo, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Surveying)
Kittelberget roof cave Kirkkonummi is a gift that keeps on giving! Near the caves that we had investigated in Kauhala there's a very interesting roof cave on the cliffs surrounding Kittelberget. We set out again to hike the area with Jarmo, and found more interesting things, again :-) Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2018, Kittelbergetin iso lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kittelbergetin pieni lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kittelbergetin toinen pieni lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kittelbergetin kallionalusluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic)
Caves + glacier holes + volcano craters equals, surprisingly, danger! I follow the Caving Podcast when it appears every month. Usually the stories are pretty local to US and Indiana, where the podcast is made. But this time the story they told was very interesting for anyone. Full story
December 2018, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Exploring another cave in Kirkkonummi! This isn't really an unknown place as such -- the geocachers and climbers regularly visit these cracks and the cliff. But it hasn't been noted in any of the usual places where Finnish caves are listed. Jarmo found this place on his hike in November, and we've been exploring it on several trips since then. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2018, Kauhalan luola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kauhalan luolan lohkaresivuluolat, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kauhalan luolan halkeamasivuluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kittelbergetin pieni lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Surveying)
Fortifications in Laajalahti I recently blogged about a possible new cave in Laajalahti. But I didn't go there to look for a cave, I wanted to see the fortifications from before World War I, built by the Russians. I found many, including many small bunkers that one can easily visit. Full story
The Leaking Tunnel of Pisa... Pispala I've heard stories about the logging tunnel through Pispala, but today I finally got an opportunity to go see it myself. Full story
(TGR version)
November 2018, Pispalan uittotunneli, Tampere, Finland; Pispalan ensimmäinen uittotunneli, Tampere, Finland Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
Brunkebergstunneln This week I'm working in Stockholm, and did not manage to get my usual cheap hotel near the office. Staying at the city center, I noticed a tunnel that I had not seen before: Brunkebergstunneln. A nice walkway from 1880s, 231 meters long. Full story
November 2018, Brunkebergstunneln, Stockholm, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
Underground Art Exhibition I'm in Paris for a meeting, and on the way to the airport we visited the abandoned underground railroad line. What did we find? An art show and sculptures deep inside the tunnels! And also wonderful graffiti! Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
November 2018, Old Charonne Station, Paris, France Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
More multi-flash practice in caves The Finnish Caving Association was having a course on basic caving. I've been on that course... but it seemed like a fun thing to do and a nice visit to Turku. And I ended up doing more practice with cave photography using multiple flashes and radio triggers. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
October 2018, Luolavuoren luola, Turku, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Training)
October 2018, Luolavuoren luola, Turku, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Secret cave search Bastuberg and Tallbacka The book "Suomen Luolat" gives a hint of a cave in Kirkkonummi, near someone's yard, with fuzzy coordinates that could be off by kilometres. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
October 2018, Lohkareluola, Bastuberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic); History
More cave photo & flash exercise Jarmo, Jukka, and I spent Sunday testing cave photography techniques again. I also got to show the Korkberget cave to Jukka who had not been there before. Hopefully he liked it.... to me it is by far the most interesting cave in Finland. Full story
October 2018, Palloiluhalli, Kauniainen, Finland; Korkbergetin lohkareluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
Mustavuori photo tour Today I went to Mustavuori to get a small hike and too see the tunnels and canyons. Full story
October 2018, Linnoitustunneli 1, Mustavuori, Helsinki, Finland; Linnoitustunneli 2, Mustavuori, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Tunnels)
The Inkoo Superbunker There's a big contrast between warm summer evening in the countryside, and what you find a few meters under your feet: a massive, blown up Soviet-era bunker. Damp darkness, rebar that is difficult to crawl through. And we're here to practice photography! Full story
(TGR version)
September 2018, Inkoon jättibunkkeri, Inkoo, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Not really a cave nor could I get in... Every time I go on a business trip, I try to look for places that I could either ski or go caving in. In Harbin, China, the language and Internet information differences were too big for me to figure out if there were any caves that I could visit. However, there was a reportedly nice bookstore that was built to resemble a cave. Full story
(TGR version)
September 2018, Cave Bookstore, Harbin, China Caving (Man-Made)
Dachstein Mammuthöhle My first visit to a large cave system, in the wild. An all day adventure with geology lessons, and climbing steep and slippery clay tunnels! Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
August 2018, Dachstein Mammuthöhle, Dachstein, Austria Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Vienna Flak Tower Is it an aquarium or a construct of the evil nazi regime? Well, both... Full story
(TGR version)
August 2018, Haus des Meeres, Esterhazypark, Vienna, Austria Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Recycled Hamburg flak towers During World War II, the Nazis built so called Flak Towers -- fortified air defence bunkers -- in three cities, Berlin, Vienna, and Hamburg. I had previously been in the Thumboldthain tower in Berlin. Now I was able to visit two similar bunkers in Hamburg. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
August 2018, Heiligengeistfeld Flaktürme, Heiligengeistfeld, Hamburg, Germany; Energy Bunker, Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg, Germany Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Nixlucke Moonmilk. Bats. Artefacts from 1800s. Still, inexplicably, all the other 15 participants have cancelled this excursion, including one of the guides. Why? Last nights party? Perhaps, the last guy to cancel says he partied too long. Or maybe it is the rain. It has been raining cats and dogs. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
August 2018, Nixlucke, Ebensee, Austria Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, SRT)
August 2018, Saubachlhöhlen, Yspertal, Austria Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Swimming); Swimming (Outdoor, Underground, Nature, Water, Waterbody-River, Cave)
Eurospeleo Photography Workshop This week some of us Finnish cavers are attending Eurospelo in Austria. The first session for Jukka, Tor, me, and our Canadian friend Andrew turned out to be cave photography, learning to use backlight with Philippe Crochet and Annie Guiraud. Amazing stuff, very happy that we were able to join. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
August 2018, Gassel-Tropfsteinhöhle, Ebensee, Austria Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Training); Photography
World's Worst Cave Museum You have to feel sorry for this little museum, as their resources are probably tight. But seriously... cave stalactites made of urethan without painting... bears with zippers... all-white plastic giraffes. Full story
August 2018, Museo di Zoologia, Rome, Italy Caving (Man-Made, Research)
Sikalammen luola. Cave of the Pigpond. Evening exercise, drive to Nuuksio and visit Sikalammen Luola ("Cave of the Pigpond"). I found it, although the forest in the area is difficult going. Full story
July 2018, Sikalammen luola, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Caverne de Saint-Léonard I had a free afternoon on an otherwise busy business trip in Montreal, and I wanted to visit Caverne de Saint-Léonard, a famous cave right under a city park. While this is a small cave, what I found was not your typical touristy show cave, but an adventure. Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
July 2018, Caverne de Saint-Léonard, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Grotta di Frasassi This week I'm on a tour through Italy with Janne. I had mentioned this to Tero, who suggested that we visit Grotta di Frasassi east of Ancona. He had made a visit earlier, and saw an incredibly large cave hall. Still, I had not realised how big it was. Over 100 meters in free height, and 240 meters to the natural opening at the top. Full story
July 2018, Grotta di Frasassi, Italy Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)
Vesuvius Went to see the Vesuvius crater with Janne, quite interesting and of course the source of many sad fates in destroyed cities around. Overdue for eruption, too. Full story
July 2018, Vesuvius, Naples, Italy; Small cave at the Vesuvius, Naples, Italy Climbing (Mountain); Caving (Rock, Rock-Volcanic, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
Napoli Catacombs Catacombe di San Gennaro is one of the underground burial sites in Naples. Janne and visited this on a tour, and were surprised. Full story
July 2018, Catacombe di San Gennaro, Naples, Italy History; Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Catacombs)
Cave Radios with Bo Lenander I had an opportunity to interview Bo Lenander, Swedish Speleological Society, about cave electronics and communications equipment. In this video he explains the equipment that he has built and what it can be used for. And then we try it out in the Gotland's Lummelunda cave! Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
June 2018, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Boating, Swimming, Equipment); Swimming (Indoor, Underground, Water, Waterbody-Cave)
Utö Caving This weekend I was at Tero's cottage in Särkisalo, and decided to check out local caves, if any. It turned out that there's quite a nice set of cracks, roofs, and boulders in Utö, at the Vårdgasberget. Full story
June 2018, Vårdgasbergetin luola, Utö, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Pihlajasaari Bunker Helsinki's recreation islands are interesting, also from the point of view abandoned military structures and ruins. Today's excursion was to Sirpalesaari. Full story
June 2018, Pihlajasaaren öljysäiliön rauniot, Helsinki, Finland; Pihlajasaaren bunkkeri, Helsinki, Finland Urban-Exploration (Ruins, Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Stasi Bunker While on my way to a conference, I wanted to do a small detour to visit a bunker that I had read about. A Stasi bunker. Full story
June 2018, Stasi bunker, Machern, Germany Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Lummelunda Caver's Camp I spent the last five days on the beach in Gotland, camping with Swedish cavers in their yearly meet-up. A lot of fun, sunshine, grilling and old and new friends. And caving... more about that later. Heading home now. Full story
June 2018, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (None, Social)
Training for Vertical Caving For the last two days, I've had the opportunity to be trained for techniques that are needed to traverse vertical cave shafts. Full story
June 2018, Myllypuron Urheiluhalli, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Climbing (Mountain)
Replica Cave While in France, I happened to get a number of brochures for tourist caves. One of these brochures was about the Chauvet Cave, the cave with earliest known paintings from 30 000+ years ago. But, that cave is off limits to visitors, so they built a replica of the cave nearby! Full story
May 2018, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None); Travel
Karby Batteri More after-work bunker scouting. I thought I had already explored all the underground structures in the northern Korvlinjen, but apparently not. This "batteri" as they called it is a set of defence structures for guns, with small tunnels going from one structure to the next. Full story
Baume Obscure Cave I was on my way to Marseille for a conference. And on the way observing other interesting things... like caves. Full story
(TGR version)
May 2018, Baume Obscure Cave, Cote d'Azur, France Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)
Grotte de Saint Cézaire Wow, that was a nice tour. Another brief cave visit while driving to my conference, but this time with a specialist guide, Eric, who has been exploring the depths of this cave. Full story
(TGR version)
May 2018, Grotte de Saint Cézaire, Cote d'Azur, France Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)
Deadly bunker trap Well, that was dangerous. We're very careful when we visit blown-up bunkers. But, we did not expect intentional traps, at least not recent ones. Next to a bunker in Siuntio, Jarmo almost fell into a 5-meter deep well that was covered with fresh tree branches. Would he have hurt himself if he fell in, or even if not, would he have been able to get out if he was alone? Who does this sort of thing?! Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
April 2018, Ansabunkkeri, Siuntio, Finland; Kallionreunan bunkkeri, Siuntio, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made); Hiking
More Sepänkylä Bunkers Olli and I went to Sepänkylä to visit more bunkers, and to fly our drones. We found a standard Soviet Porkkala bunker model, relatively intact except for the room under the gun hole. But what wonderful flowstone! Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
April 2018, Sepänkylän metsäbunkkeri, Sepänkylä, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers)
Tivoliberget Forts I had a long day at my Kista office today, but on the way back to the airport I managed to scout ruins of fortifications and bunkers at Tivoliberget in Bergshamra, Solna, near Stockholm. Full story
April 2018, Bunker, Bergshamra, Solna, Sweden; Ruins, Bergshamra, Solna, Sweden; Fortifications, Bergshamra, Solna, Sweden Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Ruins)
Petite Ceinture I'm feeling a bit alone here. The tunnel ends are too far to see even that pinhole of light. I'm in a long railway tunnel on the Petite Ceinture, the "little belt", an abandoned (I think) rail system under Paris. Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
April 2018, Old Charonne Station, Paris, France Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
LA Caving Cave of Munits is a wonderful cave and a sacred site on Simi Hills in San Fernando Valley, half an hour from Los Angeles downtown. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
March 2018, Cave of Munits, Los Angeles, California, USA; Bronson Caves, Los Angeles, California, USA Caving (Rock, Rock-Sandstone, Morphology-Other, Basic); Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Quarries)
Kiven kivi? Looking for the rock that inspired Aleksis Kivi Kiven kivi? Today's trip to look for cave underneath the large boulder in Nurmijärvi that may have inspired Aleksis Kivi in the writing of a the first significant Finnish language novel, "Seitsemän veljestä" (seven brothers). And there was a nice, 10m meter cave under the rock. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
February 2018, Hiidenkiven luola, Nurmijärvi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Surveying); History
Will a bunker eventually turn into a cave? I wonder what happens to human-made underground structures, when enough time passes by? Will they turn into caves. or cave-like environments, eventually? Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
February 2018, Solbackan bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Life, Universe, and Everything Hiking in the woods of Kirkkonummi, thinking about life, universe, and everything. And keeping an eye open for that rumored cave somewhere. Full story
January 2018, Peuramaan luola-hiidenkirnu, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Erosion)
Cosy Bunker For sale: cosy apartment with flower decorations, strongly built, safe and in the middle of nature. In good condition. Also largely underground and abandoned 100 years ago. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
January 2018, Lugnetfortet trenches, Arninge, Stockholm, Sweden; Lugnetfortet, Arninge, Stockholm, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Skevabackgrotta Search for the Lost Cave Jarmo and I have been looking for a lost cave. The Finnish Caves book notes a rumour of the "Skevabackgrotta" cave in Kirkkonummi, but does not give exact location. And notes that the cave entrance has collapsed. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
January 2018, Peuramaan pieni vaakahalkeama, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan pieni pystyhalkeama, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan pikku halkeama ja juuttuneet kivet, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan luola-hiidenkirnu, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan iso vaakahalkeama, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Erosion, Basic)
EuroSpeleo! After some prodding from friends in the Finnish Caving Society, I finally decided that I should travel to my first caving conference, the EuroSpeleo! Full story
January 2018, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Östersolberg II While I was travelling for work and fun for the last couple of weeks, Jarmo had scouted several bunker sites. His visit to an incredibly large bunker in Siuntio's Östersolberg provoked our interest as well, and last Saturday Janne, Olli, and me went there as well. Full story
(TGR version)
January 2018, Knapantien suuri bunkkeri, Östersolberg, Siuntio, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Stubböle's Kasabergen Bunkers Jarmo, Olli and me explored the Stubböle area on Sunday, and played around with drones. This area is in Siuntio, on the Soviet occupation area of Porkkala, and they seem to have had bunkers on every little hill around the fields. Full story
(TGR version)
Näsbacken Bunker This is a difficult bunker to get to. Not because being covered by dirt or blown up. But the whole area is guarded by, well, people who do not like other people to visit their part of the country. I have seen plenty of blocked roads, but the Sarvvik people have managed to block more than ten square kilometres of land. Full story
December 2017, Näsbacken bunker, Sarvvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Ingels Bunker Jarmo and I visited the Ingels bunker. Unfortunately, it turned out that we could only find a concrete slab, and found no way to enter or peek inside, or even figure out if there was anything underneath. Full story
December 2017, Bunkkeri, Ingels, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Abandoned Soviet Bunker in Fagerkulla I had a tough week, basically trying to survive on 4-5 hours of sleep for every night, due to travel and meetings. I had talked about possibly exploring something with my friend Jarmo on Saturday. But by the time I woke up, it was already afternoon... Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2017, Fagerkullan bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Faerly Hole in the Jenny Jump Forest The "Shades of Death Road" address was odd, but the day and the nature was wonderful. I found the Faerly Hole cave easily on the shores of the Ghost Lake, and walked in. It wasn't before I had crawled through a small hole that I realised something the rock walls above me were covered in layers of spiders and crickets. Thick enough to form a dark mass. And that mass had now awakened and was dropping and jumping on me. Full story
December 2017, Faerly Hole, Jenny Jump State Forest, New Jersey, USA Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic); Hiking
Sepänkylä Parking Lot Bunker Another guest blog entry from Jarmo: Before visiting a very nice bunker in Fagerkulla with Jari, I went to a walk in a forest. The plan was to visit some interesting spots I had found from a map. I did not expect to see any bunkers but when I stepped out of the car I saw a bunker just a few meters from me. Full story
December 2017, Sepänkyläntien parkkipaikan bunkkeri, Sepänkylä, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
The Oak Road Bunker Eve of the eve... not much time, heavy rain, slush on the road... but I wanted to get out and about. And visit another bunker. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2017, Tammitien bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Sacred Cave Sacred cave. Sacred place. Secret place. This place has suffered, but is still sacred for those who believe in it. Full story
November 2017, Sacred cave, Nevada, USA Caving (Rock, Morphology-Erosion, Basic); Climbing (Mountain); Urban-Exploration (Historic-Sites)
Kalasberget II Olli and I went again to the Kalasberget bunker, to take some video and drone footage. It continues to be an amazing-looking bunker in the middle of the forest. Olli took some great pictures, and we got decent drone footage, too. The drone took some hits though. Full story
November 2017, Bunkkeri 1, Kalasberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Buildings); Caving (Man-Made)
Singapore Caving Eight days inside a shopping mall. Enough! The question for the ninth day though was if I could find something interesting. Are there any caves in Singapore? There was scant information in the Internet, but it seemed like there could be beach caves on the Sentosa island, if we only could find low enough tide moment to reach them. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
Bunkers in Kirkkonummi City Today's exercise was to visit the Jolkby and Lindal bunkers near Kirkkonummi center. The designation "Command Bunker" promised much, but unfortunately, we could not get in. Digging might help, but while the tunnel started promisingly, it ended in dirt and a big stone. But we were able to enter the one in Lindal! Full story
(TGR version)
Sundsberg Bunker I've been resting my feet last couple of days, after some treatment by doctors. But today I felt the urge for at least a small visit, somewhere. Maybe an abandoned bunker from the Russian occupation times? Full story
October 2017, Sundsberg bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Map of the Majvik Roof Cave I managed to stop at the small roof cave in Majvik when going to the office the other day. And took measurements. So here's a map! Full story
October 2017, Majvikin pieni lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Majvikin pienen lippaluolan sivuluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)
Mera Korv! Mera korv, more sausage? Once again I'm in Kista, but wanted a quick outing in the evening after a long day. The answer was once again Uber to another bunker on the Korvlinjen. Full story
October 2017, Prästgårdsfortet, Täby, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Vuorenmäen kulkurinluola, or the Mountain Hill's Nomad Cave It is the usual story, a "Suomen Luolat" book tells that there's a cave at certain coordinates. But when we show up, our GPS and the coordinates don't quite match. And there are caves around, possibly several, although we're not quite sure which ones the book referred to. Full story
Tired from a day of caving... Ralf and I went to Torhola on Sunday to draw a map. We made some progress in that, but oh boy, there are so many problems, question marks, and on top of that, it is a lot of work in cold damp place! Full story
October 2017, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Surveying)
Russian Bunkers in Masala Is that a green mushroom, or is somebody trying to exit a forgotten and blown-up bunker? Jarmo and Eino joined today for a walk through Masala, in an effort to again find bunkers left from the Russian occupation of Kirkkonummi. We found three bunkers, one of which was very interesting. Even if dangerous. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
October 2017, Masalan bunkkeri 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Masalan varastorakennus, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Masalan bunkkeri 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made); Hiking
Uber Exploration ... or was it urban exploration? Today's evening exercise was to find an abandoned bunker in Sweden. And when I got inside, there was shooting outside. Fortunately, it turned out to be a shooting range. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
October 2017, Skogbergafortet, Täby, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Viinakallio. The Booze Cliff cave. Busy busy... more than half of my weekend goes to editing documents. But I decided I would too today go out, once I complete the doc. I should be able to still go out at 4pm, with sunset at 5.30pm. Except that by the time I'm hopping onto my car, I realise the daylight savings change is making the sunset at 4.30pm. Sigh. But no matter, I have a head lamp. Onwards! Full story
October 2017, Viinakallion luola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Surveying); Hiking
Sonnimäki and Kalasberget Bunkers Another weekend, another set of bunkers. Today me, Jarmo, and Velma went to explore further bunkers in the Sonnimäki and Kalasberget area. We found two interesting bunkers. Full story
Gruvböleberget Roof Cave Kirkkonummi underground <3 And Retkipaikka told us of yet another cave in Kirkkonummi. Full story
October 2017, Gruvbölebergetin lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)
Bunker on the Tulikukka Alley I used the "Parenteesi Suunnistuskartalle" database from Lynx and coming home from work, stopped at bunker location in Sarvvik. Full story
October 2017, Tulikukkakujan bunkkeri, Sarvvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Kirkkonummi Caves I said that I only knew four caves in Kirkkonummi. I should have checked the Suomen Luolat book, however. Or even my own archives which said I've been to five... Full story
October 2017, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Kalasberget Small Roof Cave While searching for possible bunkers, we came across a tiny roof cave. Probably not enough to be classify as a cave, but now that I've seen it, I wanted to record its location. Full story
October 2017, Pieni lippaluola, Kalasberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)
Degerby ZIF-25 Googling for more information about the Kirkkonummi bunkers, I found out more bunkers, obviously. But also a tidbit that there maybe 250-300 bunkers in the Kirkkonummi area. Full story
October 2017, Degerbyn bunkkeri, Inkoo, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Gribbylundsfortet The darkness falls early, before 4pm. Exit from the office then at 15:10, while having a conference call as you ride an Uber again; fortunately, the call ends by the time I am at the bunker. Full story
October 2017, Gribbylundsfortet, Täby, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
2nd Majvik Bunker And now, with batteries in my flashlight... I stopped at another bunker in Majvik on the way home from the office. Full story
October 2017, Majvikin bunkkeri 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Arningefortet On the way back to the airport and home, I stopped at the yet another place on the Korvlinjen, this time in Arninge, a village in Täby. There was supposed to be two fortresses or bunkers here. I found one fortress, but could not get in, and did not find the other one. Full story
October 2017, Västra Arningefortet, Täby, Sweden; Östra Arningefortet, Täby, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
The Sonnimäki Soviet Bunkers Bunkers... where we were supposed to find a bunker was what seemed the remains of two regular houses, one with a basement. But a hundred meters away we found an almost intact Soviet bunker. Full story
October 2017, Rauniotalo, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Rauniotalo ja kellari, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Bunkkeri 1, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Ruins, Vehicles); Caving (Man-Made)
Killinmäki Bunker There's just a little bit of warning tape, but most of it is gone. And one danger sign in a tree, visible from one direction only. The bunker is gone though, or hiding underground, with no easy way to enter. Just some holes in the ground that one needs to be careful of not stepping into. Full story
October 2017, Killinmäen bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)
Majvik Bunker It is getting dark very early in Finland, so today I stopped to see a possible bunker in Majvik on the way to the office. I found a bunker with clear entrances go inside, as well as a small roof cave on a cliff near the bunker. Full story
October 2017, Majvikin bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Majvikin pieni lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)
Survey of all Kirkkonummi Caves Project! Having done the survey work last year for Korkberget, the massive cave (in Finnish class, at least), this fall I've been trying to visit other underground places in Kirkkonummi. And I have now visited and surveyed all nine known/reachable caves in Kirkkonummi. There's three more but they are either on military area, their location is not known, or they have collapsed. Full story
(TGR version)
October 2017, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (Surveying, Research)
Jorvas Bunkers How can one work somewhere for 25 years, and NEVER visit a lake just a few hundred meters away? I really don't know, but in my defence I went there today. And found trenches and flooded bunkers. Full story
(TGR version)
Kakarberget Cave in the Darkness Apparently, we like caving so much that we're willing to search forests in darkness, with headlamps, to look for caves. Full story
October 2017, Iso lippaluola, Kakarberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Pieni kulmaluola, Kakarberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Matala lippaluola, Kakarberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)
Map of the Nepperi Cave Nepperi is at the center of the big controversy: is the largest cave inside Ring III in Vantaa as currently believed, or perhaps in Espoo? Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
September 2017, Nepperin luola, Espoo, Finland; Nepperin kulmalippaluola, Espoo, Finland; Nepperin sivukololuola, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Surveying)
Österbacken II In better daylight and with Jarmo's help we now found the quarry. I must have walked 20 meters from the quarry wall (a 10+ meter drop, btw) yesterday. Full story
September 2017, Österbackenin päälouhos, Vantaa, Finland; Juvanmalmin louhos, Espoo, Finland; Juvanmalmin tuhottu louhos, Espoo, Finland; Österbackenin mahdollinen historiallinen louhos, Vantaa, Finland Urban-Exploration (Quarries); Caving (Man-Made)
Dragon's Den - Smocza Jama Smocza Jama. Or Dragon's Den, an ancient cave. Despite the puffing, fire-breathing dragon, there's nothing to be afraid of, as long the dragon is fed enough cattle every week. Either cattle .... or equivalent number of humans. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
The Mannerheim Bunker A small announcement in the newspaper -- Mannerheim's bunker to open for visitors. Of course I had to go... Full story
August 2017, Tamminiemi, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers)
Crystal Cave at Sequoia Janne and I are on a trip through California (and few other states). We dropped by the Crystal Cave at the Sequoia National Park. Full story
July 2017, Crystal Cave, Sequoia National Park, California, USA Caving (Rock, Rock-Marble, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)
Bozkovské Dolomitové Jeskynĕ I had an opportunity for a brief visit to the Bozkovské Dolomitové Jeskynĕ or the Bozkov Dolomite caves. The cave system is 1060 meters long and hosts the largest underground lake in Czech Republic. Full story
(TGR version)
Certificate! Cool. Got a certificate in the mail from the caving course earlier in the summer :-) and clearly they were focused on things that needed improvement on my side, like responsibility and safety. Full story
July 2017, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None)
Underground Hotel Room This is the world's oldest and biggest hotel room. And it is 64 meters underground, in a cave in Arizona. Sadly, we did not have money to for the night (850 USD) but we did get a tour. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
July 2017, Grand Canyon Caverns, Arizona, USA Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)
Kasaberget cave and abandoned concrete houses I was searching for a place to visit this Sunday... with pretty much the only requirement being that a teenager would be interested in going. We ended up going to Kasaberget in Kirkkonummi. Full story
June 2017, Abandoned warehouses, Strömsby, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kasabergetin luola, Strömsby, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Surveying); Urban-Exploration (Buildings, Ruins); History
A Kilometer Inside This is an exceptional opportunity that only opens once a year. Janne and I are crawling in the cave, guided by friendly cavers from the Swedish Speleological Association. We get to see amazing things, from stalactites to "Inre Sjön", a small lake (or rather, a pool) a kilometer into the cave. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
Ruins of the Bemböle Watermill Can you drive by something for 20 years, and not be aware of the wonders just few meters from the road? You can. I had not heard about the Bemböle watermill ruins. Full story
June 2017, Bembölen vanha mylly, Espoo, Finland Urban-Exploration (Ruins); Caving (Man-Made)
Basic Caving Course in Turku The Finnish Speleological Association arranged a basic caving course in Turku in June. The course started from the basics, like crawling. A slide to teach crawling! And walking, for that we had another slide. Full story
June 2017, Luolavuoren luola, Turku, Finland; Ispoisten ranta, Turku, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Training); Swimming (Outdoor)
June 2017, Cumulus Hotel, Turku, Finland Caving (None)
Member of the club? It is a bad sign if you get a frequent customer card from the local military surplus store. Or the "Frequent Pig" card as they call it. Full story
June 2017, Varusteleka, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Equipment)
Map of the Högberget Cave Earlier this week I took some of my colleagues to see the interesting Högberget cave, near our office. I also took some measurements, and drew a map. Full story
June 2017, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Erosion, Basic, Surveying)
The Kalkkikallio caves in Vantaa I was looking for a quick, interesting exploration for Saturday morning, and finally drove up to Kalkkikallio caves (Limestone Hill caves) in Vantaa. Kalkkikallio is a rock hill area on the other side of the Ring III road from the IKEA store. The hill is next to a secluded, quiet area of houses. Full story
Very Finnish Party This is how we do picnic in Finland. Rain, hail, cold, jackets, sulking under what cover we might find. Full story
June 2017, Vallisaaren niityn bunkkeri, Helsinki, Finland Other; Caving (Man-Made)
Woven Stone. And Cave Under. I am making turns on a fresh norwegian moss, when I see something strange. A dramatic outgrowth of moss on a rock? No, it was art wrapping! The Woven Stone by Lise Wulff, a norwegian ecoartist. And a cave underneath! Full story
(TGR version)
Solamäki Caves Yesterday we went to the Solamäki caves (Solamäen luolat) in Siuntio. We found a crack system, with a large cave hall by Finnish standards, and many interesting small cracks. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
Dead Cat Margarine Dead cats were blended into margarine and fed to humans. We're going to a secret, abandoned tunnel to meet the ghosts of the cats. But it won't be easy to get there. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
April 2017, Undisclosed Finnish location, Finland Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
Abandoned railroad tunnel Today's evening excursion was to an abandoned railroad tunnel. The tunnel is 600 meters long, and in the middle of everything, at a place I've been many times, but I had never heard about the tunnel before. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
April 2017, Undisclosed location, Helsinki, Finland Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made)
Squeezing into the Nepperi cave On Sunday I needed some exercise, and decided to take a walk in the area of Pitkäjärvi in Espoo. I picked a route that would allow me to visit the Nepperi cave and took my drone just in case I needed to peek from the sky at some point. Full story
April 2017, Nepperin luola, Espoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Kangasala Caving Janne and I often visit Tampere on his winter vacation from school. We did that again, and again went to explore some caves. This time in Kangasala. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
February 2017, Lempokiven luola, Kangasala, Finland; Ohtolan Pirunkallion luola, Kangasala, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Sipilän luola Sammatti. Hemmetti. Wipers not working on my Volvo. Oh well. But on the other hand, we visited a very nice little cave, Sipilän luola. Beautiful forms of rock. Full story
January 2017, Sipilän luola, Sammatti, Finland Caving (Rock, Basic, Granite, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Erosion)
January 2017, Lintukiiman Silmäsuon luola, Nummi-Pusula, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
The Korkberget Files I want to take you to a special place. Janne and I have spent there over 20 days by now. And every day of exploration rewards us with more finds. It is nearby. An old friend. But did we know all of its secrets before? I certainly didn't. Caves in Finland are small. What if I told you about a complex system of caves, with hundreds of meters of tunnels and fifty entrances, including one that you can drive a boat in? Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2016, Korkbergetin lohkareluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Boating, Surveying)
The Unnatural Wakeup Today I had an unnatural 0700 wakeup so that I could enjoy Nuuksio morning and caves with Janne before taking off to a trip later. Full story
October 2016, Vähä-Hauklammen luolat, Nuuksio, Vihti, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Funny. Really funny. Really funny. More drawings on natural stones, really nice graphics this time. This is in Torhola cave in Lohja, Finland. Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
October 2016, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Surveying)
Monttukrouvi This lazy Saturday's program for me and Janne was to visit some of the bunkers and moats around Helsinki's WWI defence structures. There are plenty of these structures, sadly all slowly rotting away. Historic sites, officially almost forgotten and certainly not cared for. Full story
September 2016, Pirkkola, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers)
Varberget, Nauvo Nauvo is a large island in the archipelago south of Turku, Finland. Varberget is a set of small caves on a cliff ridge that rises on the island. Full story
(TGR version)
September 2016, Vargberget, Nauvo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Solbergagrottorna Cracks... cracks... and ladders. Full story
August 2016, Solbergagrottorna, Uppsala, Sweden Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack)
Kasbergsgrottan Small cliff.. but such a nice cave and rock! Full story
August 2016, Kasbergsgrottan, Väddö, Sweden Caving (Rock, Basic, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack)
Anti-Gravity Lift Towers The Swiss are clever innovators. The latest example of this that I saw were the lift towers in Saas Fee. Floating in mid-air, not standing on ground like regular towers. Anti-gravity in action! Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
Srsly, Smearing Caves with Vaseline???!! We had a disturbing visit to a cave today. Somebody had not only blocked access to this cave, but also smeared vaseline all over the cave, spread broken glass, and so on. Sigh. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
August 2016, Mätikän luola, Masku, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Visiting the devil's church - Pirttimäen hiidenkirkko We visited this magnificent hole without really knowing much about what to expect. We had seen it listed in the book of Finnish caves, and in Retkipaikka, but the name told us little. Devil's church? Full story
July 2016, Pirttimäen hiidenkirkko, Perniö, Finland Caving (Rock, Basic, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders)
Getsvältan Getsvältan offers great views onto the sea and a nice crawl into small caves. Full story
July 2016, Getsvältan, Visby, Sweden Caving (Rock, Basic, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion, Morphology-Weathering)
July 2016, Kluterthohle, Ennepetal, Germany Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Wormhole I guess we can blame ourselves, as we were looking for the wormhole. We didn't realise the world would change if we went through it. Lost in time for a while, but managed to return back to our universe by going through the wormhole again. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
July 2016, Pirunpesänkivi, Nokia, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Other, Morphology-Erosion, Basic)
Lilla Karlsö Caving Lilla Karlsö. A paradise for birds, enough to warrant ban on entering except during special times and only with a guide. Of course, we didn't know any of the stuff about the guide, but wanted to visit some caves. Turned out that we had to follow a guide, and that it actually was a very good idea to follow the guide. Full story
July 2016, Kuren, Lilla Karlsö, Sweden; Suder Vagnhus, Lilla Karlsö, Sweden; Norra Vagnhus, Lilla Karlsö, Sweden Caving (Rock, Basic, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Morphology-Erosion)
Water in Boots Hulubergsgrottan. Sipoo, Finland. Tiny hole, only crawable. And now filled with dirty water. What could be more fun to explore? Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
June 2016, Hulubergsgrottan, Sipoo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Cave Surveying Course We often have just coordinates. While Finnish caves are small, they are often also non-obvious, mere collections of holes under boulders. Would be nice to have a map, to even know if we're in the right hole. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
June 2016, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Training, Surveying)
Mayday Wappu, or first of May is a huge celebration in Finland, traditionally celebrated by hiking to a hill and drinking alcohol. This is very different from other festivities in Finland, where the part about the hill is omitted. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
May 2016, Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland; Saunalahden onkalo, Espoo, Finland; Suomenojan siirtolohkare, Espoo, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Crystallization, Rock-Gneiss); Caving (Basic, Morphology-Boulders, Rock, Rock-Gneiss)
Smuggler's Cave, Salo Salo, southern Finland. More than an hour away by car, and we've been in the forest for an hour now. The cave is nowhere to be found. I have coordinates, but in the wrong coordinate system and Google isn't co-operating to interpret them in the right way. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
April 2016, Rosvoluola, Salo, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic)
Mäyrämäki. Badger hill. Icy holes. Those are the best ones! Full story
April 2016, Mäyrämäen kellari, Lapinjärvi, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack)
Bombergsgrottan Bombergsgrottan has a small entrance, a hole at the bottom of a big cliff. But the small hole hides a big (25m, big by Finnish standards) cave that extends left and right under the cliff. Full story
April 2016, Bombergsgrottan, Liljendal, Finland Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Granite)
Torhola Caves in Finland may be small, but fortunately also claustrophobia-inducing. Caves are also not well known, but this one has an actual road sign and a parking lot! Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
February 2016, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Torhola side cave If this cave wasn't next to Torhola's great karst cave, it would be remarkable. Now, it is largely ignored. Full story
February 2016, Torholan luola 2, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic)
Taking the Nysse to the Slopes Tampere. A great destination for the winter vacation. But can you take the city bus to the slopes? Yes you can. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
February 2016, Mustavuori, Tampere, Finland; Tampereen rinteet Hervanta, Hervanta, Tampere, Finland; Hirvi-Simunan luola, Lempäälä, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
Cave Skiing I like caves and skiing, of course, but it is rare that the two mix. But in Cervinia there's small cave that you can ski through. If you dare. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
February 2016, Cervinia, Italy; Small cave, Cervinia, Italy; Small cave, Cervinia, Italy Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Skiing (Outdoor, Underground, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Morphology-Crack, Skiing)
Kekesteto It was a cold night in HEL, -29 degrees at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. I felt like I needed to go south to find better skiing weather. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
January 2016, Kekestetö, Hungary; Palvolgyi Cave, Budapest, Hungary Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)
A Pile of Rocks Imagine rocks thrown together, all sizes all the way up to house-sized boulders. Korkberget doesn't get more than a brief mention in "Caves of Finland". But it is one of the biggest caves in our area, and quite a maze. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2015, Korkbergetin lohkareluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic)
Titlis in the Darkness You have to take six lifts to get to the top. And we were late, because travel. But it turns out you can also stay late. By the time we started our final 2km vertical descent, it was already dark. Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)
Högberget Cave I thought there are no caves in Finland, but there are some! This weekend's adventure was to visit the specially formed Högberget flow-erosion cave. Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
December 2015, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Erosion, Basic)
Chattanooga Caving I like caves, but feel suspicious of touristy tours. They usually leave a bland feeling, too easy, too packaged. Not so with Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, Tennesee! Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
October 2015, Ruby Falls, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)
Bunker Bouldering A blown-up bunker. Debris. Darkness. Bats. Concrete rising to the heights. Walls hanging where they should not be. An ideal climbing place, if it wasn't for the grim past of this place and the morbid pictures of soldiers. Full story
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(Suomenkielinen versio)
Sauna im Stubai My kids follow me on some of my trips. Not only to enjoy the great skiing, but also to learn about culture. For instance, where else would my sons learn about der Sauna, except by going to the Freizeitcentrum im Stubai, Austria? Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
Lost World The sun is still bright, but the environment is getting strange. Fog is engulfing us. Plants are starting to look pre-historic. And I'm hanging from a 100 meter rope, above the Lost World, a cave system in Waitomo, New Zealand. And it is starting to look like my landing spot is in the river at the bottom of the cave. Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
August 2014, Waitomo, New Zealand Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, SRT); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool)
On the Beach Midsummer in Gotland, Sweden. Perfect place for boating, hanging out on the sand beach, swimming, as well as a little bit of climbing. And all this underground! Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
June 2014, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Boating, Swimming); Swimming (Underground, Water, Waterbody-Cave)
Dos Ojos I like lazy Saturdays. The ones with no meetings, and planes not leaving until the evening. And no plans, other than having a swimsuit and wanting to visit some natural pools in the warm weather. But I ended up seeing incredible cenotes, colours, and diving in the world's 3rd longest underwater cave. Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
April 2014, Dos Ojos, Yacatan, Mexico Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Swimming, Diving); Diving
Underground Skiing Does anyone remember the arcade game where you stood on skis? I loved that game, and one of the interesting tracks in the game goes through a cave. Ever since playing the game I have wanted to experience skiing underground. This week I was visiting Alpe d'Huez, France, and my wish was fulfilled. The "Le Tunnel" slope begins with a 200 meter tunnel through the mountain. And then continues as the most difficult black run the ski area has to offer. Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)
January 2013, Alpe d'Huez, France; Val d'Isere, France Skiing (Snow, Outdoor, Underground, Lifts); Skiing (Snow, Outdoor, Underground, Lifts); Caving (Man-Made); Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Skiing)
Underground biking in Maastricht Biking underground, in a cave/mine? Why not when that's available! And in Maastricht it was! Full story
July 2010, Sibbergroeve, Valkenburg, Netherlands Biking (Bike-Mountain, Underground); Urban-Exploration (Mines); Caving (Man-Made, Biking, Rock, Rock-Marble)
underground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a
beginner caver. The Planetcaver has explored underground places in
30 countries and 486 locations (348 natural and 141 man-made). You can also click on the map
on the left to see where in the world they took place.
