Večná robota + Starý hrad = The System of Hipman Caves Elena Hipmanová Club Speleo-Detva
Jaskyňa Starý hrad (The Old Castle Cave), situated in Krakova hoľa Nízke Tatry (The Low Tatra), was the deepests cave in Slovakia up to the year 2003. It was discovered by Petr Hipman, but in 1964 the entrance seemed to be an unpassable crack with a pulsing draught. Two years later it was widened to such an extent that the first man could enter it. In 1970 it was 152 metres deep and its high corridor was enclosed by a narrow hall, filled with big rocks.
It appeared that this was the end of the cave, so we worked in other localities. Eight years later, we again focused our interest on the cave Starý hrad. We managed to find the passage trough fallen blocks and descend through the series of abbyses down to a depth of 272 meters. Here we were stopped by a water trap. In 1980 we pumped water from the trap into a 19 ml rubber tank. We directed the flowing water up through a hose, so finally we could widen the trap. This was the way
Eastern crest of Krakova hoľa and the System of Hipman Caves, view of Jaskyňa Slnečného lúča. Photo: Petr Hipman
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