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 23 countries and 274 locations (152 natural and 125 man-made). You can also click on the map below to see where in the world they took place.
The Planetcaver articles appeared orgiginally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, swimming, and saunas.
All caving-related articles:
| 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); Caving (Rock) | |
| 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); Caving (Man-made) | |
| 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 (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) | |
| 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 (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 September 2019, Duhlata Cave, Sofia, Bulgaria Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 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, Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| 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 August 2019, Tito's Cave, Vis, Croatia; Tito's Headquarters Cave, Vis, Croatia Caving (Rock, Man-made) | |
| 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, Man-made) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) June 2019, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| Lummelunda, here I come! Lummelunda week is coming up AND I'M GOING AGAIN! WOOHOOO! Full story May 2019, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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 April 2019, Bunkkeritunneli 1, Vallikallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Bunkkeritunneli 2, Vallikallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Romahtanut bunkkeri, Vallikallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Bunkkeri 1, Laturinkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Bunkkeri 2, Laturinkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Siirtolohkareen luola, Laturinkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Bunkkeri 3, Laturinkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Romahtanut bunkkeri 4, Laturinkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Iso bunkkeri, Laturinkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Tykkiasema 1, Nupukivenkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Tykkiasema 2, Nupukivenkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland; Tykkiasema 3, Nupukivenkallio, Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland Urban-exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-made) | |
| 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) March 2019, Luola 1, Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Luola 2, Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Luola 3, Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Luola 4, Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Luola 5, Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Luola 6, Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Luola 7, Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 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) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 December 2018, Laajalahden bunkkeri 1, Espoo, Finland; Laajalahden bunkkeri 2, Espoo, Finland; Laajalahden bunkkeri 3, Espoo, Finland; Laajalahden bunkkeri 4, Espoo, Finland; Laajalahden bunkkeri 5, Espoo, Finland; Laajalahden bunkkeri 6, Espoo, Finland Urban-exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-made) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) October 2018, Luolavuoren luola, Turku, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| Garbage Caving *Every* cave that I go to in Finland seems to have at least one beer can. Lets clean them up! Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) October 2018, Luolavuoren luola, Turku, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) October 2018, Lohkareluola, Bastuberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock); 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; Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Man-made, Rock) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2018, Dachstein Mammuthöhle, Dachstein, Austria Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| Block cave + river = fun? Swoosh, flushed down! This cave makes me feel like going down the drain. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2018, Saubachlhöhlen, Yspertal, Austria Caving (Rock) | |
| 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); 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 (Science) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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 (Man-made); 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 May 2018, Karby batteri 1, Täby, Sweden; Karby batteri 2, Täby, Sweden; Karby batteri 3, Täby, Sweden Urban-exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-made) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (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 (TGR version) (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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) March 2018, Cave of Munits, Los Angeles, California, USA; Bronson Caves, Los Angeles, California, USA Caving (Rock, 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2018, Hiidenkiven luola, Nurmijärvi, Finland Caving (Rock); 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 (TGR version) (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) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (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 (TGR version) (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); Hiking | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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) January 2018, Säilön raunio, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland; Pohjoinen bunkkeri, Kasabergen, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland; Eteläinen bunkkeri, Kasabergen, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland; Kellari, Sunnankärrsbergen, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland Urban-exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-made) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (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); 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, Sepänkylantien 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 (TGR version) (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); 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) November 2017, Cave 1, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore; Cave 2, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore; Cave 3, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore; Cave 4, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore; Cave 5, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore; Cave 6, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore; Cave 7, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore; Triangle stone, Sentosa, Singapore, Singapore Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) November 2017, Lindalin bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Komentobunkkeri, Joklby, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Leikkijuoksuhauta, Jolkby, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jolkbyn potero 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jolkbyn potero 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-exploration (Bunkers, Trenches, Vehicles); Caving (Man-made) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 October 2017, Vuorenmäen kulkurin lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Vuorenmäen kulkurin lohkareluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Vuorenmäen kulkurin kivenalusluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Vuorenmäen kulkurin nuotioluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Vuorenmäen kulkurin ylälippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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, Torhola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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); 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 October 2017, Bunkkeri 2, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Bunkkeri 1, Kalasberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Bunkkeri 1, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-made) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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, Rock) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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) October 2017, Jorvas bunkkeri 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas bunkkeritie, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas juoksuhauta, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 3, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 4, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-exploration (Bunkers, Trenches); Caving (Man-made); Hiking | |
| 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) | |
| 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 Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) August 2017, Smocza Jama, Krakow, Poland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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) July 2017, Bozkov Dolomit Caves, Bozkov, Czech Republic Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) July 2017, Grand Canyon Caverns, Arizona, USA Caving (Rock) | |
| 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); 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) June 2017, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden; Kanalen, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden; Bryet, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden; Galgbergsgrottan, Visby, Gotland, Sweden Caving (Rock) | |
| 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); Swimming (Outdoor, Water) | |
| I was on a course... ... and we started from the basics, like crawling. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) June 2017, Cumulus Hotel, Turku, Finland Caving (Rock); Training | |
| 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 (Rock); 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) | |
| 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 June 2017, Kalkkikallio, Vantaa, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) May 2017, Woven Stone, Hemsedal, Norway Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) May 2017, Solamäki, Siuntio, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (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) | |
| 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) | |
| Bird Horniness Eye Swamp Cave Bird Horniness Swamp Eye cave. A great name, at least. But is the cave great? Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) January 2017, Lintukiiman Silmäsuon luola, Nummi-Pusula, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) December 2016, Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 luola, Nuuksio, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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, Torhola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (Rock); Urban-exploration (Buildings) | |
| 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, Varberget, Nauvo, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) August 2016, Saas Fee, Switzerland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Ice) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2016, Mätikän luola, Masku, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| Kluterthohle I don't often relax, but when I do, it has to be muddy. Wet. And underground. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) July 2016, Kluterthohle, Ennepetal, Germany Caving (Rock) | |
| 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, Pirunpesankivi, Nokia, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) June 2016, Hulubergsgrottan, Sipoo, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) June 2016, Torhola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2016, Torhola, Lohja, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2016, Mustavuori, Tampere, Finland; Tampereen rinteet Hervanta, Hervanta, Tampere, Finland; Hirvi-Simuna, Lempäälä, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2016, Cervinia, Italy Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) January 2016, Kekestetö, Hungary Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) December 2015, Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock) | |
| 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) December 2015, Engelberg, Switzerland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Cave with a View There are usually no great views from caves, at least not of the sunset. Except at Rokokallio. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) December 2015, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kuusijärvi, Vantaa, Finland Caving (Rock); Sauna (Smoke); Swimming (Ice) | |
| 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) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) October 2015, Ruby Falls, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA Caving (Rock) | |
| 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 (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) June 2015, Humboldthain Flaktürme, Berlin, Germany Climbing (Wall); Caving (Rock); Urban-exploration (Bunkers) | |
| Sauna im Stubai Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) January 2015, Stubaital, Austria; Schlick 2000, Austria; Patschkofel, Austria Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Ice); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor) | |
| 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); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor) | |
| 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); Swimming (Underground) | |
| 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); 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 (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock) | |