A new opportunity for trail running has arisen in North Holland, the Wieringermeer Trail.
de 1e WIERINGERMEERTRAIL
We zijn trots op het feit dat we deze trail kunnen en mogen organiseren in Noord Holland. Een trail van één grote ronde met meerdere lussen en diverse soorten ondergrond over een afstand van 17.5 kilometer (gps-gemeten) in en om het Dijkgatsbos en natuurgebied Wierholt.
De trail zal worden gehouden op 1 juli 2012
See this website for more information.
Watch this documentary on a mammoth cave in Viernam:
Or for even more Studio Blu released some Italian documentaries with Wnglish subtitles:
http://www.youtube.com/user/studioblu
Cave of forgotten dreams is a great documentary by Werner Herzog:
http://www.science.fulldocumentary.com/default.asp?action=listing&id=1024
In 1994, a group of scientists discovered a cave in Southern France perfectly preserved for over 20,000 years and containing the earliest known human paintings.
Knowing the cultural significance that the Chauvet Cave holds, the French government immediately cut-off all access to it, save a few archaeologists and paleontologists. But documentary filmmaker, Werner Herzog, has been given limited access, and now we get to go inside examining beautiful artwork created by our ancient ancestors around 32,000 years ago. almost twice as old as any previous discovery.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. It’s an unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of the pristine artwork dating back to human hands over 30,000 years ago.
Today I watched a documentary on cavediving. It was about caves in Mexico, the island Cozumel in Yucatan. I found information on the great informative site www.caves.org (here). I MUST get into some caves, but unfortunately SC avalon doesn’t want me 😦 (which is understandable, they are a Belgian organization, and they refer to speleo.nl, the Dutch speleo organization. But then they don’t seem to do any introduction routes!). After this I watched the Discovery documentary on the Aqua Caves Florida. Intro:
I’ve started to run, in preparation for both survival and a short triathlon I will be swimming/cycling/running in june.
I set up a training route of around 2 km. around my home, on asphalt, gravel and grass. There are two locations for exercises. One is for stretching, the other for pullups and climbing. I have started with a simple and easy schedule at first.
A great source on caving techniques is in the book “Vertical”
In july I will be visiting Portsmouth for a conference. If time permits I will try and visit some heritage sites, e.g. Portsdown.
I am discovering the wonders of the great http://www.scavalon.be site. Especially the “easy” Trou de L’église Cave should be easy to confront quickly (http://www.scavalon.be/avalonnl/discov/eglidury.htm)
I remember having visited one cave. I will try and discover which one it was.
I finally started a personal blog just to see if I am able to keep publishing.
The first major topic will probably be caving. From my childhood, when visiting Wales and South-west England with my parents I have been interested in rocks in all form and matter. My sister-in-law married an Austrian guy, which also falls in the category rocks, rocks and rocks, and most recently I’m watching and reading everything about caves. For example the IMAX movie:
But also the blockbuster by Cameron:
And after a visit to the Grottes de Hotton I am even more adamant: one day I will be caving and cave-diving, and a member of the Speleo Nederland. I, however, first have more pressing matters: writing my thesis, and so at the moment -in high anticipation of my caving future ;-)- I’m reading books and brushing up my fitness with survival training (my first triatlon, smallest distances, in june!).
Reading James M. Tabor – Blind descent
And have you seen the Wookey Hole? Also read this story on Wookey’s discovery and the dangers of caving diving. Why do I find this interesting? A whole list of UK caves is on http://www.ukcaves.co.uk/
There, I also found info on caves in North-wales, as well as mines where I’ve been when young. http://www.cowdery.org.uk/hesp.php. I used to love the mine near Nantmor: http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/mines/Cwm-bychan-(nantmor)_1776/Cwm-bychan-(nantmor).asp
Christian Bokhove 