What makes a person not only enter a cave hundreds of meters deep, but dive into the dark water there? Cave diving is considered one of the most dangerous sports. In the event of a problem, divers cannot swim vertically upwards as in the sea, but must swim back the way they came, often in worse conditions. They must have enough bottles of gas mixtures that replace the oxygen, enough light sources and move only on the rope on which they dived.

The inexperienced panic and drown.

This is what Frank Vasseur, 51 years old, with more than 30 years of experience in cave diving, tells us.

He is a primary school teacher by profession, but spends much of his life underground and in the water. Explores caves and siphons in France, as well as in many other countries of the world, including our country.

He shares his experiences and adventures in photo albums, reports, films, textbooks, books, websites and hundreds of publications so that his discoveries can benefit others. He teaches cave diving at the Technical Diving International Agency (TDI).

Frank Vasseur was an official guest at the 19th edition of the Bansko Film Fest.

Interview by Tanya Ivanova

Do you know how many people in the world are doing this?

Frank: In cave diving for a long time there were only explorers who explored the caves, mapped them, etc. However, since 10-15 years there are those who descend into explored caves just for pleasure. Many more people now practice cave diving - several thousand , but the researchers are few, maybe 400-500 worldwide.

 

Why is this considered one of the most dangerous extreme sports?

Frank: Because the human body is not adapted to live underground or in water, and we combine exactly these two things. In case of a problem, we have to get to the entrance of the water-filled gallery, and this can be more problematic than diving into the sea. In the sea you just have to come to the surface, whereas in the cave, if you're 500 meters away and there's a problem, you have to swim back that 500 meters and then be taken away. You need to be able to solve the problem first and then go back on your own, maybe in worse conditions, especially if the water is murky and you can't see well.

And the bigger challenge is to get back up, like in alpinism. But now we have good enough equipment and technique to do it safely. Especially when done with thought! You have to keep in mind that you have to come back the same way you came down, so it's good to keep enough strength to be able to come back.

Have you ever had panic attacks or anything like that, especially in the beginning?

Frank: Yes, of course, not only at the beginning. If you look at the history of cave diving, 20-30 years ago accidents were due to bad equipment - you don't have enough air, you run out of light... Now that's not the case - we have quite good equipment. Accidents nowadays happen to people who have good equipment and want to achieve amazing things, but they are not prepared well enough, they go too far, go down too fast, and then when a problem arises, they don't know how to solve it and fall out in a panic.

One of the rules in cave diving is that the basic equipment is double - we have at least two flashlights, two bottles of breathing gas. But! We only have one brain! So if there is a problem, no one can think for you, no one can breathe for you, and you have to be able to solve the problem, to deal with the situation. And it takes training, time and experience to be a good cave diver.

In practice, you are always in control of your gas mixtures. You have a device to check how much you have. Also, you carry a minimum of 2 bottles, maybe even 3 or 4. You use a quarter of the breathing gas mixtures on the way down, a quarter on the way back, and keep half a bottle for safety if you have to slow down.

What do you do when the water turns cloudy?

Frank: This happens very often, because caves are natural objects - water and limestone, say, sand, clay, there are always some particles in the water. On the way down it is clear, but on the way back it becomes cloudy, so we follow the same line, the "pilot rope" we came down.

What is your favorite place to dive?

Frank: My goal is to find and explore new places, so my favorite place is the next one I'm going to explore.

How deep have you dived?

Frank: I chose not to dive too deep, that's my personal choice. The deepest I've been is 145 meters, but I go down into a cave just to explore it, not for fun, because it's more of a challenge for me. The deeper you go, the more complicated it is to get back, you don't have time to shoot video, explore, and it's not very interesting.

What are you working on now?

Frank: I always run several projects in different countries. Maybe I will go to Croatia and Spain soon. I live in the south of France and there are many caves around where I have a number of set targets. What I like about cave diving is that each cave is a separate case, completely different from the others - you have to choose the right equipment, think about how to do it in order to survive and fulfill your goals - all this is very interesting to me.

What would be the greatest achievement for you?

Frank: Perhaps the discovery of an underground river near my home. We know there is a small mountain there, with a river and some siphons, but no one has ever entered. Also, if I find any artifacts related to archeology, it would be a great achievement.

Why, in fact, did you choose cave diving, what does it give you?

Frank: First, I'm a caver, but I saw that in order to fully explore a cave, I needed to be able to dive. That's how I started to learn - first of ordinary diving, and then of cave diving. For me, cave diving is a way to explore our planet. Much of it is already known - most peaks have been climbed, deserts have been traversed, we have satellite images, etc. There are only two places on Earth that have not been explored - the deepest parts of the oceans and caves. So cave diving is a way to explore our planet, get to know it better, respect it and protect it, I hope!

You can hear the interview with Frank Vasseur in the audio file above. It was broadcast on the Bulgarian National Radio on January 24, 2020: https://bnr.bg/horizont/post/101218392/frank-vasur-za-peshternoto-gmurkane-i-zashto-tova-e-edin-ot-nai-opasnite-ekstremni-sportove

 

Photos: Frank Vasseur's personal archive