This year we went to Valbona as a bigger team than before – ten speleologists, and five people who support our actions in the mountains. We chose a different route to travel – tested in May, the route through Kosovo. It takes less time, but unfortunately is more expensive because in Kosovo we must buy additional insurance for the cars. Valbona, traditionally, in mid-August, greeted us with beautiful weather so on the next day we went into the mountains. Thanks to off-road vehicles, we could transport the equipment to extreme base located at huts Buni e Zicit. In the summer there is the shepherds’ base, because nearby there is the only source in this region. We left in their care the part of our equipment and the rest of the camp we transported to the upper base. This summer in the mountains there was much more snow than in the previous year, so we decided that all the forces we will direct to the hanged valley located between the peaks of May Cet-Harushës (2421 m), Maja Ismel Bruce Hall (2527 m) and Maja Malgashit (2319 m). The camp we established in the middle of the valley at an altitude of 2100 m. Exploration was conducted within 8 days, which enabled us getting to know about 3 / 4 of the valley’s area. Divided into three teams, we have found 30 new entrances to the caves. 20 of them have been thoroughly reviewed. So far, the deepest one was that found by a team of Piętak, Sprycha, Wisniewski AVL 52 cave with a depth of  69.3 m and length 127.9 m, next in order is the AVL 50 (-54.1 m 114.0 m). In total, in 2009, we measured 1051.5 meters of new cave passages, and since the beginning of our exploration in Albania we have already identified 1815.5 meters of the caves.

In the course of the expedition a detailed plan for a previously known cave Shpella e Haxhise (365 m, 34.6 m deniwelacji) has been worked out, which in the future after a slight preparation can be made available to tourists and become an additional attraction of the valley.
We find it interesting to come back next year, as there are several promising entrances left to be examined, we also want to get to know the rest of the valley Cet Harushes and the upper floor of the valley Pecmares.

During the rest day we visited one of the side valleys of Valbona – Ceremit. Two years ago there was built the road to the village – until now only in Albanian standard, which can be reached by car with four-wheel drive only, but how we were ensured on the meeting summarizing the May trip by Margegaj municipal authorities, in 2 years there will by conducted an asphalt road through Ceremit to the border crossing with Montenegro. Such a solution would be very beneficial for us because it would significantly shorten the travel time to the massif. For the moment we are waiting patiently for the implementation of those plans. During our stay in early May, and again in August, we carried out some hydrological observations. Most of the sources studied in May, is periodic. However, the most interesting for us were the measurements of Selim exurgence, which has not changed its temperature or discharge in relation to measurements of May. This can suggest a stable and relatively abundant supply. Observations of the sources will be continued to validate our assumptions concerning the direction of water circulation in massifs surrounding the Valbona valley.

Magda  Słupińska

Speleoklub AVEN

A group of polish cavers visited the alpine karst of Albania for the fifth time. Traditionally the period of the expedition was 15 to 31 August, and, as in previous years, the weather was good. This year their goal was a plateau located between the peaks of Maja Ismael Sali Brucaj (2527 m) and Maja Cet Harushes (2421 m). An upper camp was installed at an altitude of 2100 m above sea level. Within 8 days of activity from the upper camp, they managed to meet about 70% of the plateau. At total, this year’s expedition they discovered 32 new caves. Most of them are deep karst wells up to 45 meters. Six caves was surveyed, together in 2009 they measured 1051 m of new cave. Proved to be the deepest cave of the AVL-52 which reached almost 70 m deep and 127 m in length. 

 original here

September 2009 saw the continuation, after the initial ventures in 1993, 1994, 2006 and 2008, of the exploratory expedition to Albania by the Caving Society, the Commissione Grotte “Eugenio Boegan” CAI Trieste. Its purpose was to survey the enormous karst plateau which acts as a reference to the area of the Hekurave and Boshit mountains, both at the summit altitudes (2000mt-2400mt above sea level) and at the lower altitudes at the karst springs where the main base camp was installed at Qerec Mulaj (altitude 800mt above sea level). The caving explorations were conducted by various small teams which subdivided the search areas: one advance team spent 5 days at maximum altitudes to carry out an initial high-altitude alpine caving search on the plain of Mount Hekurave, surveying and exploring 7 new caves, all unfortunately without any clear continuations. Another team, instead, returned to the “Shpella Zeze” already explored by the Commissione Grotte in 1993 and 2006, a wide semi-active spring, and, finding the passages open due to the period of drought and forcing an internal landslide, managed to enter the very heart of the karst system, exploring about 1,5 km of new tunnels and paths featuring particular karst forms and significant deposits of sand and pebbles, an indication that these zones are completely flooded when the water table rises during heavy rain. Again at the “Shpella Zeze”, which today has a surveyed development of about 3 km, a promising passage was identified, to be widened, which should give access to the fossil part of the spring. In addition, other teams, with operating and logistic autonomy, moved into the Mount Boshit sector in search of the “Perr Boshit” spring, a promising cave with a huge water regime which had been identified and partially explored in the 1993 expedition but unfortunately without managing to identify the cave entrance: this zone is about a 10 hours walk from the base camp. The expedition, which also featured Slovenian cavers, consisted of:

Louis Torelli (C.G.E.B. Trieste – Italy)

Adriano Balzarelli (C.G.E.B. Trieste – Italy)

Riccardo Corazzi (C.G.E.B. Trieste – Italy)

Federico Deponte (C.G.E.B. Trieste – Italy)

Piero Gherbaz (C.G.E.B. Trieste – Italy)

Fabrizio Pancotto (C.G.E.B. Trieste – Italy)

And from Slovenia:

Rok Stopar (JD Dimnice)

Ivo Sedmak (DZRJ Luka Cec)

Marjan Vilhar (DZRJ Luka Cec)

Izidor Santek Zupancic (DZRJ Luka Cec)

Mitja Mrsek (JD Rakek)

original article in italian in CGEB site

During the expedition was surveyed 1313 м. of new passages. Over 0,5 km of old passage was remmaped. The actual length of the cave Maja Arapit (after this expedition)  grow from 1224 m to   2537 m. The depth is 243 m where the highest point is + 217 and the lowest one is – 26 м.Because of the remapping of the old part of the cave, minimal correction of the positive depth were  made. The exploration will continued in high during the second Bulgarian expedition which is carrying out now (9-20 August 2009).

Original here..