Ghar Parau

Author: David Judson
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, NY. 1973.
Library of Congress Catalogue Number: 73-7145
Number of Pages: 216

What Everest is to mountains, Ghar Parau is to caves - "the big one." No one knows if it is the biggest pothole in the world because no one yet has succeeded in getting to the bottom of this gigantic complex cave system. But in September of 1972 a sixteen-man British expedition, led by veteran caver David Judson, took up the challenge to plumb the depths of Ghar Parau and, if possible, to break the world's record for a descent below the earth's surface.

While some members of the expedition carried out detailed explorations of the area's geomorphology, the men of the assault team descended into the weird, silent world of the caves. Heavily armed with advanced mountaineering and caving equipment - including lamps, ladders, ropes, carabiners, dry suits - they climbed downward for eight days - through hazardous pitches, subterranean rivers, cathedral-sized galleries and tortuous tunnels.

In the end, the assault team met defeat at a level of 3,000 feet in the form of a sump of water at the end of a narrow cave. Without diving equipment, there was no way to continue the descent or to ascertain whether further progress was possible. So, for the time being, the challenge of Ghar Parau remains, awaiting fresh attempts by other men. In the meantime, this book is the vivid record of an unusual human venture into one of the last unknown areas of this earth. It is also a compelling description of active men in action, welded into a single team to attack a stubborn enemy.