the.com/spelunking
the only hobby where getting lost underground is a feature, not a bug
means The recreational exploration of caves, often involving crawling, climbing, and squeezing through tight underground passages.
from From the Latin spelunca, meaning 'cave,' which itself came from the Greek spelynx. The word 'spelunker' surfaced in American English in the early 20th century, when cave enthusiasts needed a name grander than 'cave-crawler.' Britain, meanwhile, prefers the soggier-sounding 'potholing.'
- name origin
- From Greek for cave, popularized in 1940s America
- the rivalry
- Cavers mock spelunkers as reckless amateurs
- absolute dark
- Deep caves have zero light, breeding eyeless creatures
- the squeeze
- Some passages force you to exhale to fit
- deepest cave
- Veryovkina drops over 2,200 meters underground
son doong cave — vietnam's largest cave, 2.5 miles long, discovered 1991 by local farmers
mammoth cave — kentucky, usa — world's longest cave system at 405 miles of surveyed passages
waitomo caves — new zealand limestone caves famous for glowworms, explored commercially since 1887