Cavers,
Chris Nicola sent me the following e-mail on Tuesday, August 9, 2005. Please distribute the info.
Thanks,
Meredith Hall Johnson
______________________________________________________
Hi Meredith,
Hope everything has been going well for you.
I need a favor. I'm writing to you from a hotel in Paris, and am just getting ready to cathch a plane to Ukraine. Could you please circulate the below piece to as many caver news groups as possible? Thanks.
Regards, Chris
Subject: Update on the Ozernaya-Optimistcheskaya Connection Project
From: Chris Nicola, Director of UAYCEF, an NSS Project
Date: August 9, 2005
Ever since Optimistcheskaya cave (146 + miles) was opened in the early 60’s cavers of Western Ukraine have dreamed of one day connecting it to nearby Ozernaya cave (77 + miles) to bring about a system that might even surpass Mammoth in length (360 + miles). Well, this dream may soon become a reality.
At their closest point these two “Gypsum Giants” are about 600 meters apart. However, years of exploration have lead many to conclude that because of the local watershed a connection below the valley separating the caves is not possible – even though a lower level was found several years ago in Ozernaya. Thus, attention was turned towards the area encompassing the highest point on the surface as a way to connect these two caves. In short efforts were directed towards surveying in a horizontal rather than vertical direction. But these efforts meet with limited success, and proved frustrating over.
It was with the investigation, testing (inc. that of Sergey Lavashev in Chrystalnia in 2000), and refinement over the last five years of a new Ground Penetrating Radar device that Kiev cavers V. Prokhorenko and V. Ivaschuk found promising passage behind a wall adjacent to the “Koma” campsite in Ozernaya. This is just one of the areas (another void area was also found) which will serve as the focus this month of a joint team of Ukrainian and American cavers during the 12th annual expedition of UAYCEF, an NSS Project, which recently awarded a $1000 grant to support the efforts of connecting the caves. In addition, UAYCEF also secured sponsorship from the New York City-based Explorers Club.
Progress reports of the OOCP, which has Sergey Yepifanov (NSS #50001) as its Project Coordinator, will be forthcoming over the next few months. In the interim, credit and recognition needs to be given to the following for their ongoing work on this project:
Ozernaya Expedition Members:
Ternopil “Podoliye” Club- T. Yermakova (NSS # 54891), S. Yepifanov, Shestopalov, V. Dmitrienko,
Chernovtsy “Troglodyte” club – Markovish B., Palaguta A., Oneschuk M.
Borchev Club- Zhitukhin V., Kosianchik S., Dunaevsky V.
Kiev Cavers- V. Prokhorenko, V. Ivanschuk, I. Stefanishyn
Optimisticheskaya Expediton Members:
Lvov Caving Club “Cyclops” (head Yudina N.)
Note: (1) the above information came from a report from T. Yermakova, which was translated by Anatoliy Kantor, and edited by Chris Nicola (NSS# 37847), (2) the Lvov club plans to work on future Ozernaya expeditions.
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Regards,
Chris Nicola (http://makeURL.com/nicola), Director of UAYCEF , an NSS Project. Alternate address: cnic...@optonline.net, Hm Phone/Fax: 718 204-8373 Wk Phone:718 794-2496. UAYCEF events schedule: http://makeURL.com/activities. NOTE: ALL HUMOROUS FILES, AND THOSE IN EXCESS OF 300K, NEED TO BE SENT TO cnic...@optonline.net INSTEAD OF THIS ADDRESS -Thanks.
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- CaveTex: Fwd: Update on the Ozernaya-Optimistcheskay... Meredith Hall Johnson
- Re: CaveTex: Fwd: Update on the Ozernaya-Optimi... Ioannis Zenas
