MORE PLANETCAVER STORIES

Welcome to the Planetcaver blog, featuring stories from caves andunderground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a beginner caver.

More caving-related articles:

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, 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
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)

June 2016, Torholan luola, Lohja, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Training, Surveying)

More pictures from the Suomenoja boulder
I was going through pictures of caves I visited, and noticed that I had not published some pictures from the Suomenoja luge boulder that we visited in 2016... so here's some photos!
Full story

May 2016, Suomenojan siirtolohkare, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Basic, Morphology-Boulders, Rock, Rock-Gneiss)

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
(TGR version)
(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
(TGR version)
(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
(TGR version)
(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
(TGR version)
(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
(TGR version)
(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)

December 2015, Engelberg, Switzerland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); 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, Päällysluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kuusijärvi, Vantaa, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Sauna (Smoke); Swimming (Ice, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach)

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)

This is the 21th set of articles. The previous sets were set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, set 14, set 15, set 16, set 17, set 18, set 19, and set 20. The next set is set 22.

The Planetcaver articles appeared originally 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.