Slovenia, 9-15 October, 2015.

As a member of the ECRA international organisation The Hungarian Cave Rescue Organisation was invited to the training. Almost all Slovenan cave rescuers, 3 Hungarian, 5 Serbian, 5 Bosnian and 1 person from Montenegro participated on the program. Alltogether 60 person were present.

The training was really excellent, the host organisation proved to be well-equipped, disciplined and exemplary also in logistical areas.

After arriving on Friday evening, greeting old friends, the real program began on Saturday Morning at 7 with wake up. The cave for the simulated rescuing consisted a 270 m deep vertical after that a 300 m long horizontal part. It was divided into 9 parts, each of them had its own group with a leader person. This information was absolutely clear in the rescue plan, which was visible at the leader tent on a table.

The Hungarian Cave Rescue Service received a call out on the 6th of November, 2015, Friday afternoon that an accident happened in Csengő pothole (Bell-cave) lying in Slovakia Plešivecká plateau (near Roznava). Three Hungarian individuals (industrial alpinists, who did not have the technical qualifications for vertical caving) descended into the cave without official permit and not under organized circumstances. They allegedly wanted to spend more days in the cave.

The pothole starts with a large, hundred-meter deep vertical shaft, where a larger ledge can be found at-60 meters. The bottom of the cave is a vast, fragmented gallery.

Descending, Mr. B.G. (36 years old) went first, installing the ropes in the cave. Halfway through the shaft on the ledge (supposedly due to saving some rope) he did not install a belay line and walked through the ledge without any belay.

Hungarian Cave Rescue has broad international connections and regional cooperation is an important part of it. This created the framework for a joint cave rescue exercise held in the region of Királyerdő (Munții Pădurea Craiului - Romania), in the Páfrányos cave (Pestera cu Ferigi) between the 16th and the 18th of October, 2015. The exercise was conducted with Serviciul Judetean Salvamont - Salvaspeo Bihor and Hungarian Cave Rescue participating.

From Hungary, the Bakony Cave Rescue was represented by 2 persons, while the North-Hungarian Cave Rescue was represented by 1 person, as both services were invited to the event. The exercise, as a project, was financed by a tender of the National Cooperation Fund 2015.

Sometimes real-life accidents create circumstances, where cave rescue services are faced with challenges that are best dealt with in international cooperation.

On the evening of September 08, 2015, a small group visited the Ferenc-hegyi-cave (click here for more information about the cave), opens near Törökvészi road at Budapest, II. district. The group had a permission, the leader was an experienced cave explorer. They were half-hour from the entrance in the so-called ’Mixer’ room about 30 m (ten floors) deep. During a climb in a narrow crevice - after a wrong move – he suffered a shoulder injury.

While climbing he reached back during the descend, he dislocated his right shoulder. After the accident the leader put him in safety, insulated with foil against hypothermia and fixed the limb. After first aid, he rushed to the surface and alerted the Cave Rescue Service (BMSz).

2015. július 11-én szombaton délután 2 órakor L. László siklóernyős a Pásztó település mellett lévő Nyikom starthelytől északra sikertelen leszállás során fára szállt le az Ördög-ároknál. László a fennakadt ernyőével kb. 15 méter magasan lógott egy cseresznyefán. Először a barátnőjével beszélt telefonon, aki egy másik, a starthelyen tartózkodó siklóernyőstől (János) kért segítséget.

Mivel a fennakadt ernyősnek nem volt GPS-e, először egy alkalmazást kellett letöltenie, amivel meg tudta adni a pozícióját. János egy helyi quadossal felderítette, hogy hol lógott László. Négy óra előtt 10 perccel kaptam a riasztást telefonon Adamkó Pétertől, majd köteleket, csigát, motorfűrészt és ágvágót raktam össze és felvettem Pataki Dénest. 

Tribute to

Dr. György Dénes

who was a father to Hungarian speleologists,
prominent character of speleology in the 20th century
honorary president of the Hungarian Speleological Society,
establisher of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service,
honorary president of the UIS Cave Rescue Commission

died at 3 a.m. of 30 April, 2015 in his age 92 years.

Dr. Gyorgy DENES was born in Orosháza (at the South of Hungary) at 3rd of September, 1923. He graduated in law at the University of Pécs. He participated in the reorganization of the Hungarian Speleological Society in 1958, where he became secretary, then secretary general and finally honorary president. He established the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service in 1961, which still exist nowadays and works with high efficiency. He was a member of the presidency of the Hungarian Geographical Society and in the Hungarian Ramblers' Association (HRA, "Friends of Nature"), president of the Cave Commission of the HRA and the Meteor Tourist Club.

He organized the speleological department within the Meteor Tourist Club in 1957. He was the leader of the exploration group of the Meteor cave in 1961, the Raisz passage of Baradla cave, the paleontological site of the Esztramos Hill which has international interest. He was the leader of countless cave explorations in different part of Hungary, but his favourite was the Aggtelek Karst region.

His scientific job was extensive: from karst hydrology through history to linguistics. His scholarship gave him opportunity to deal with ancient diplomas and found new results concerning cave histories. He was a great lecturer and was ready to share his knowledge at all times. He has more than 300 publications in Hungary and abroad in different languages.

He enjoyed the appreciation of cavers during all his life and additionally he received a lot of awards from state and governmental authorities of Hungary and foreign countries. His work and results will also be significant for future generations to come.

We are saying good-bye and keep him in our best memory.