Books - Review


Showing all books by: James Tabor

Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth
The story of two very different men and their attempts to find the deepest cave in the world. Bill Stone, A-type personality, domineering, charismatic, determined American, is convinced that Cheve supercave in Mexico will prove to be deepest and leads various dangerous expeditions to explore it. But Alexander Klimchouk, Ukrainian and polar opposite in personality, careful, scientific, cautious and methodical is also exploring Krubera, a supercave in the Republic of Georgia.
Really good read. Well written by a journalist, we get a lot more info on the Bill Stone expeditions than we do on the Ukrainian chap, with plenty of grisly details about the horrendous conditions underground, the development of equipment (especially the re-breathers used by the divers for pushing through the flooded sumps), and the perils of having any kind of accident so far underground. The exploration of Krubera is equally interesting but the author seemed to have less info about the details. Good stuff.
Score: 8
Published: 2010
Read: August 28th 2015