Expedition Bjurälven 2018 - what has been established?

The twelfth edition of Expedition Bjurälven is behind us. The project brings together advanced technical divers, who together in an international team explore and document the unusual cave in the northern Swedish mountains of Jämtland. How did this year’s edition go? What did the participants have to deal with? What have they found? Although some of these questions can already be answered now.

One of the most important factors on which the expedition depends is, of course, the weather. This year the participants were lucky with the weather. Despite the frost reaching -31ºC, it was sunny and there was no rain or blizzards, which could have hampered the exploration.

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The equipment did not disappoint either. Both the individual equipment of each diver, such as BCDs and automatics, as well as the entire infrastructure, in the form of compressors and aggregates, also did a good job. It’s very important to be able to rely on the equipment you use, given the limited time you have and the difficult conditions you have to operate in.

At this point, it should be mentioned that the participants particularly praised the Apeks automats, which did a great job. Certainly, it was also influenced by the fact that during filling the cylinders, the air was passed through a double filter. All this was done to dry them as much as possible and minimise the risk of icing and freezing of the automats.

The only problems still arise when it comes to driving snowmobiles. As you can see, it is not difficult to have an accident, but there are far fewer accidents than in previous alps, and this is probably due to the special training that each person taking part in the expedition must undergo.

In the course of this year’s work, a further 100 metres of cave have been explored and documented. Good news – this is not the end. The tunnel continues and mapping of the cave will continue in the coming years. Further, previously unexplored branches of the cave have also been photographed. Now the work will move onto computer screens. The data from the GLONAS system will have to be uploaded and then put on the map.

So we have managed to take another step towards getting to know this extraordinary cave. How long will its exploration continue? What awaits divers in unexplored tunnels? Will it be possible to find connections to other caves in the area? These are just some of the questions we would like answers to in the coming years.

Exploration is certainly not facilitated by the location of the cave, in a very inaccessible region, nor by the fact that every year, its exploration lasts only a week. As for the next expedition, it is scheduled for exactly next year, i.e. March 9-18, 2019.

If you are interested in topics related to Expedition Bjurälven and would like to learn more about the unusual cave hidden in the north of Sweden, we have good news for you. Soon there will be a list of places and dates where and when you will be able to take part in meetings in Poland, discussing the findings and progress of the expedition.

In this year’s edition of the expedition there were also Poles. Among our compatriots on the spot were Irena Stangierska, Mariusz Dziobek and Marcin Pawełczyk representing DIVERS24.

Photo: Irena Stangierska, Expedition Bjurälven

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