Staring down into the deep abyss this is not a sport for the faint
hearted.
For full story and pictures:
Here in China’s mountainous village of Tian Xing, a team of British
cave explorers claim to have discovered the world’s deepest
underground shaft.
Connected by two cave systems, Qikeng and Dong Ba, their combined
depth measures an astonishing 1026 m.
Photographer Robert Shone spent two months with the climbers
documenting the ground breaking discovery, (which is also China’s
first one kilometre-deep cave) in the vast spaces beneath Tian Xing.
“I was invited to join an international caving expedition last
September by a friend of mine, Richard Gerrish, who lives and works
out in Hong Kong,” said the 28-year-old from Manchester.
“Along with a team of international climbers, we started our journey
on the surface at the entrance of the Miao Keng underground caves.
“Miao Keng (known as China’s big shaft) is a 506 metre deep shaft and
it would take two hours for us to make the descent.
“We rigged the big shaft with several ropes and 32 pitches (meaning
the rope was fastened to the wall 32 times) to allow people to climb
up and down the ropes at any one time.”
Camping underground for four to five-day period the British team were
able to explore the tunnels and passages at the base of the Miao Keng
shaft.
“We were already aware of Miao Keng’s 506 metre big shaft, but we
wanted to explore further,” says Robbie.
“When we reached the bottom of the big shaft there is only one way off
into a stream way passage.”
Running for several kilometres, the climbers soon discovered how the
passage bursts into a larger stream passage (as show in the images),
known as the Qikeng stream-way which led onto a waterfall known as the
Dragon’s Mouth.
“It was here where we made the connection to the Dong Ba, another well
known cave in the area,” explained Robbie.
“The entire cave system, from the surface of the big shaft of Miao
Keng, to the lowest point of Dong Ba totalled more than 1026m in depth.”
An experienced climber, Robbie has an IRATA level 3 rope access tech,
allowing him to work as an abseiler all over the world.
His ability to combine photography with climbing has taken him all
over the world from Borneo to Papua New Guinea working with the likes
of the BBC, Nat Geo and Discovery.
However, the caves under Tian Xing would prove to be one of his most
challenging projects.
In a bid to capture the mammoth Miao Keng’s mammoth 506 ‘entrance’ to
the one km shaft, Robbie used a series of lights fixed to the wall of
the cave to show its scale.
“We knew there was no way we could capture the true scale of this
vertical chamber in a single image,” he explains.
“I was anticipating having to merge together five or six images to
create one photogprahy of the whole shaft.
“Ultimately this is exactly what happened and the bonus was an
excellent sequence of images of the shaft disappearing onto the
blackness.”
Satisfied in his two month adventure, Robbie hopes to one day return
to the vast labyrinth of the tunnels of Tian Xing to get the perfect
picture.
Words by Jack Fletcher
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