Kačna Cave

18 December 2023 Caves

A shaft of blue daylight descends into the immense Kačna jama, dwarfing a lone caver below.

Kačna Cave was on my list almost as soon as I took up caving, as my fellow club members immediately told me about the world's best photograph by Robbie Shone, which has already won countless awards and distinctions.

As the old saying, usually attributed to Pablo Picasso, goes – good artists copy, great artists steal, I tried to steal the idea and imitate the result.

Right at the top of the 200-metre direct descent, already on the via ferrata, I learnt just how much courage I had in my trousers, and that I should have brought nappies as well as the tripod. My excuse is also that my photography plans were thwarted by an unannounced group of Italian cavers who arrived a few minutes before us and were already rigging the stepped passage on the right (Lisična?).

Cavers gather beside parked vehicles on a sunny forest road while preparing equipment for Kačna Cave.

Cavers in red equipment prepare beside parked cars on a sunny forest road before entering Kačna Cave.

Cavers prepare beside cars loaded with red gear at the sunny roadside meeting point for the Kačna jama trip.

Cavers in red helmets negotiate a roped descent through a leafless forest sinkhole on the approach to Kačna Cave.

A straight-down view into Kačna Cave reveals a deep forest-framed shaft with a caver descending below.

We took the left-hand, direct route, where we only changed over about four times, with no ledges for resting.

We still tried to take a few photos of both shafts. The results are not what I had hoped for, but despite trembling on the way down and swearing on the way up, it was good training.

Thanks to the team – Jure, Jaroš, Aljaž and Anže.

Warm light reveals a tall rough wall in Kačna jama, with a tiny caver standing at its base.

A caver descends through a tall shaft where intense blue daylight spills across dark limestone walls.

Cold blue daylight pours through the high opening of Kačna Cave's deep entrance shaft onto dark, wet rock.

A caver descends a deep vertical shaft in Kačna jama as a blue beam of daylight enters from above.

A caver descends a rope through a tall limestone shaft, lit by intense blue daylight from the opening above.

A caver hangs on rope in a tall shaft as cool blue daylight pours into Kačna Cave from above.

A distant caver hangs in a blue-lit vertical opening above the shadowed depths of Kačna Cave.

Two powerful shafts of daylight cut through the darkness of Kačna Cave, revealing spray and rugged limestone walls.

A distant headlamp shines from the floor of a vast dark shaft, with cold daylight filtering through openings high above.

Daylight and drifting mist pour through openings high in the rugged ceiling of a deep cave chamber.

Two shafts of daylight cut through mist inside Kačna Cave, illuminating wet rock and a tiny caver below.

P.S. Of course, we also photographed a few speleothems and the team.

Cavers in red suits gather among stalactites and stalagmites inside a spacious chamber of Kačna jama.

A caver stands in a vast Kačna Cave chamber among white mineral deposits and rugged brown limestone.

A team of red-suited cavers spreads across the immense entrance chamber of Kačna Cave among jagged formations and boulders.

Two cavers explore an ornate Kačna jama chamber filled with stalactites, stalagmites and warm pools of artificial light.