The mine of Tuna-Hästberg in Sweden was in use until the late 1960-ties after which it was abandoned and slowly filled with water. Under the surface, everything remains exactly as it was on the day the mine was closed down. Daniel Karlsson and Nicklas Myrin, Baggbodykarna, started to explore the dry part of Tuna-Hästberg mine back in 1998. Being experienced cavers and sump divers, they soon reached the third and deepest dry level after which scuba equipment had to be used for further exploration. Since then, more than six kilometres of permanent line have been installed in the dark maze of underwater passages. The mine itself has become a well-known attraction for cave divers from all around Sweden and abroad. At the Tech-Diving 2012 conference Daniel Karlsson will tell the story of the mine and how it was developed from an enthusiast project to a full-fledged dive site.
Dmitri Gorski joined the team in 2007 and brought with him experience of deep trimix and rebreather diving. He was one of the leading members of the 2011 Deep Exploration Project where divers reached depth of 114 meters in the freezing water, making some astonishing discoveries of the long-forgotten industrial era. At Tech-Diving 2012 Dmitri will share his thoughts about this kind of diving and show what was accomplished during the deep dives.
- I believe that a lot of systematization and streamlining of technical diving projects has been achieved during the last six years, says Dmitri Gorski. In his view technical diving has become "commonplace" and there is now a significant amount of divers involved. By working in teams where members have a lot of knowledge and experience much is gained. Instead of guessing and developing new approaches from scratch, we can concentrate on performing and achieving our goals instead. This has led to a number of successful projects all around the world, which were not possible before. Divers have gone deeper and longer and have done so safely; returning to celebrate the success. The use of CCR rebreathers, which have become so common during the recent years, have made much of this possible.
The next big project for Daniel and Dmitri will be the annual expedition to a remote cave in the arctic north of Sweden. The expedition will continue developing the previously achieved results. The cave is now more than 700 meters long and there are a lot of leads. - We have a strong team this year and techniques have been polished by many years of diving up there. It is a tough environment - strictly side mount, very remote and with freezing water temperatures of around zero. But is one of the most enjoyable projects I have been involved with, says Dmitri. Read more about it at www.expeditionbjuralven.se
