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?
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September 2017, Nepperin luola, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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August 2017, Smocza Jama, Krakow, Poland
Caving (Rock)
A small announcement in the newspaper -- Mannerheim's bunker to open for visitors. Of course I had to go...
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August 2017, Tamminiemi, Helsinki, Finland
Caving (Man-made); Urban-exploration (Bunkers)
Janne and I are on a trip through California (and few other states). We dropped by the Crystal Cave at the Sequoia National Park.
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July 2017, Crystal Cave, Sequoia National Park, California, USA
Caving (Rock)
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.
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July 2017, Bozkov Dolomit Caves, Bozkov, Czech Republic
Caving (Rock)
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.
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July 2017, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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July 2017, Grand Canyon Caverns, Arizona, USA
Caving (Rock)
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.
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June 2017, Abandoned warehouses, Strömsby, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Kasabergetin luola, Strömsby, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock); Urban-exploration (Buildings, Ruins); History
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.
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June 2017, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden; Kanalen, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden; Bryet, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden; Galgbergsgrottan, Visby, Gotland, Sweden
Caving (Rock)
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.
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June 2017, Bembölen vanha mylly, Espoo, Finland
Urban-exploration (Ruins); Caving (Man-made)
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.
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June 2017, Luolavuoren luola, Turku, Finland; Ispoisten ranta, Turku, Finland
Caving (Rock); Swimming (Outdoor, Water)
... and we started from the basics, like crawling.
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June 2017, Cumulus Hotel, Turku, Finland
Caving (Rock); Training
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.
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June 2017, Varusteleka, Helsinki, Finland
Caving (Rock); Equipment
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.
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June 2017, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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June 2017, Kalkkikallio, Vantaa, Finland
Caving (Rock)
This is how we do picnic in Finland. Rain, hail, cold, jackets, sulking under what cover we might find.
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June 2017, Vallisaaren niityn bunkkeri, Helsinki, Finland
Other; Caving (Man-made)
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!
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May 2017, Woven Stone, Hemsedal, Norway
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock)
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.
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May 2017, Solamäki, Siuntio, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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April 2017, Undisclosed Finnish location, Finland
Urban-exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-made)
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.
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April 2017, Undisclosed location, Helsinki, Finland
Urban-exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-made)
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.
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April 2017, Nepperin luola, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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February 2017, Lempokiven luola, Kangasala, Finland; Ohtolan Pirunkallion luola, Kangasala, Finland
Caving (Rock)
Bird Horniness Swamp Eye cave. A great name, at least. But is the cave great?
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January 2017, Lintukiiman Silmäsuon luola, Nummi-Pusula, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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?
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December 2016, Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock)
Really funny. More drawings on natural stones, really nice graphics this time. This is in Torhola cave in Lohja, Finland.
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November 2016, Torhola, Lohja, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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October 2016, Vähä-hauklammen luola, Nuuksio, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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September 2016, Pirkkola, Helsinki, Finland
Caving (Rock); Urban-exploration (Buildings)
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.
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September 2016, Varberget, Nauvo, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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!
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August 2016, Saas Fee, Switzerland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Ice)
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.
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August 2016, Mätikän luola, Masku, Finland
Caving (Rock)
I don't often relax, but when I do, it has to be muddy. Wet. And underground.
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July 2016, Kluterthohle, Ennepetal, Germany
Caving (Rock)
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.
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July 2016, Pirunpesankivi, Nokia, Finland
Caving (Rock)
Hulubergsgrottan. Sipoo, Finland. Tiny hole, only crawable. And now filled with dirty water. What could be more fun to explore?
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June 2016, Hulubergsgrottan, Sipoo, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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June 2016, Torhola, Lohja, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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April 2016, Rosvoluola, Salo, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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!
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February 2016, Torhola, Lohja, Finland
Caving (Rock)
Tampere. A great destination for the winter vacation. But can you take the city bus to the slopes? Yes you can.
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February 2016, Mustavuori, Tampere, Finland; Tampereen rinteet Hervanta, Hervanta, Tampere, Finland; Hirvi-Simuna, Lempäälä, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock)
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.
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February 2016, Cervinia, Italy
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock)
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.
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January 2016, Kekestetö, Hungary
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock)
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.
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December 2015, Korkberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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.
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December 2015, Engelberg, Switzerland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock); Sauna (Normal)
There are usually no great views from caves, at least not of the sunset. Except at Rokokallio.
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December 2015, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kuusijärvi, Vantaa, Finland
Caving (Rock); Sauna (Smoke); Swimming (Ice)
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.
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December 2015, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock)
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!
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October 2015, Ruby Falls, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Caving (Rock)
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.
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June 2015, Humboldthain Flaktürme, Berlin, Germany
Climbing (Wall); Caving (Rock)
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January 2015, Stubaital, Austria; Schlick 2000, Austria; Patschkofel, Austria
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Ice); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor)
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.
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August 2014, Waitomo, New Zealand
Caving (Rock); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor)
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!
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June 2014, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden
Caving (Rock); Swimming (Underground)
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.
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April 2014, Dos Ojos, Yacatan, Mexico
Caving (Rock); Diving
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.
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January 2013, Alpe d'Huez, France; Val d'Isere, France
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow); Caving (Rock)