About Biokovo
Mountain Biokovo is located in the Southern part of Croatia and more specifically in Southern Dalmatia, the starting point for climbing and exploring Biokovo is the seaside town Makarska.
The highest point is St. Jure, 1762m. There is an asphalt road to the very peak of St. Jure, facilitating the cave exploration. Biokovo is formed in limestone rocks with well expressed karst formations.
On its territory there are many caves, to mention few:
- Njemica* – 863m
- Mokre noge – 831m
- Amfora – 788m
- Vlimova jama (cave system A1 – Vilimova jama/A2) -589m
- Jama pod Kamenitim vratima -499m
- Stara skola – 497m
Biokovo is a natural park and protection and conservation restrictions on its territory apply.
*Njemica in English sounds [Niemica]. The name means German as an adjective.
The bivouac in the First Big Chamber
The beginning of the 160m shaft at approx. -350m, here we wait due to the risk of falling stones
At approx. -650m
Towards the cave
About Njemica
In 2018, a group of young speleologists from the Alpine and Speleo Club Ekstrem (SO SAK Ekstrem), Makarska, discover a 100m deep pit. With hard work and perseverance they manage to pass a vertical, narrow passage. From here the cave ‘opens’, showing her incredible geo-morphological beauty, reaching the depth of -863m, which is making Njemica the deepest cave on Biokovo and just behind the four, North Velebit, caves passing the -1000m barrier.
The cave develops in depth as follows:
0m (entrance) to -90m – clean and straightforward pit
-90m to -180m – at the bottom of the entrance, there is a narrow passage, from here the progress is in charming meander
-180m to -350m – a pit, that follows in height the First big chamber in the cave
-350m to -610m – from the First Big Chamber a small vertical takes you to the beginning of a 160m shaft, at the bottom of which there is another ~10m drop, followed by ~60m pit
-610m to -650m – here starts the Second Big Chamber, a climb following the floor of the chamber, formed by huge boulders, leads to the ~60m pit
-650m to -740m – Third Big Chamber, from here the cave follows a slightly inclined plate through narrow passages and boulders, the progress is away from the water flow, which we encounter at -650m
-740 to -863m – going back to the active meander, a cascade, leading to the Fourth Big Chamber, big boulders and denivelation, a last drop of ~5-6m and bottom
Lots of equipment was needed on weekly basis, the hosts team managed to cater for each exploration trip
At -555m
At the entrance
~600m, start of the pit from the Second Big Chamber
The cave is warm but not quite 🙂
Summary
The current bottom is at -863m, due to Biokovo geological characteristics, the development of the other known caves in the area and the situation at the bottom of Niemica, hopes for progress in depth are lacking. So far, Njemica follows a logical single line in its progress to the very bottom. There are still quite some places to check and explore, while many of the climbs, suggest potential lines of +300m and more.
The team from SO SAK Ekstrem did an excellent job in rigging and explorations organisation! Huge thanks for the hospitality and the cooperation 🙂
Text and photos by:
Tsvetan Kosturkov
Marin Glusevic’s photos from different exploration trips to Njemica can be found here:
Biokovo, 27.10. 2019.Rado smo se odazvali pozivu Ekstrmovaca da im se pridružimo na istraživanju jame Njemice. Jama je…
Публикувахте от Marin Glusevic в Сряда, 30 октомври 2019 г.
Bioovo, 12.-14.06.2020.Njemica je nova najdublja jama Biokova. Ovaj vikend je prešišala Mokre noge (-831 m) i trenutno…
Публикувахте от Marin Glusevic в Вторник, 16 юни 2020 г.