The Adventure of a Lifetime

"If you think of a soccer field and you put that soccer field on its end, you have this pit going down."
"Think about this giant circular or oval hole that just goes down and down and down. It is truly amazing."
Catherine Hickson, geologist, vulcanologist

"I've had some incredible caving trips over the years."
"The first thing that struck me was the volume and noise of the raging water. I had a radio to maintain surface contact but soon realized the max[imum] volume would not be enough to overcome the sound of the raging river."
"It was a real privilege. These opportunities are quite literally once in a lifetime."
Lee Hollis, caver, British Columbia

A remote location in northwestern British Columbia is home to a  huge, unexplored pit. Photo: Catherine Hickson

The presence of an immense cave in a hitherto-unknown location (location still kept secret to deter adventurers) was discovered last April by a helicopter crew flying over a remote area of northern British Columbia within a huge nature preserve, Wells Gray Provincial Park, not far from Alberta's Jasper National Park, on a routine count of caribou by the province's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. A scientist in the helicopter happened to notice an unusual geological formation and noted its presence. Soon afterward a small team of geologists returned to establish the presence of a vast cave.

Archaeological surveyor John Pollack, part of the initial exploratory team, described the cave as being of "national significance" in a paper he co-wrote about the finding. He was instrumental in recruiting veteran caver Lee Hollis to explore the cave. That would mean lowering himself into the unknown deep, dark depths of the pit to encounter what he would and in the process initial observations would be made of the cave's features. Hollis has had years of experience in the profession over a period of three decades.

His subterranean explorations have taken him to Thailand, Ireland, Wales and Spain, and he explored the interior of Gouffre Berger in France, thought at one time to represent the world's deepest cave. He spent three days in that cave, in 1993. More latterly, he was involved in discovering a previously-unseen lava tube on an island in Hawaii. This newly-discovered cave, named Sarlacc's Pit (in fond deference to Star Wars) takes the prize for the most unusually-sized cave he has yet encountered.

On a late summer day in September Hollis helicoptered into Wells Grey Park at the invitation of John Pollack, for an initial exploration of the enormous pit. The 46-year-old cave explorer was the first person to descend into the pit. Its estimated dimensions of 100 metres long by 60 metres wide qualify it as representing the largest cave in Canada. Hollis, Pollack and Hickson along with two other researchers overflew mountains and lakes to finally reach the colossal system's site.

The entrance to a newly discovered cave in British Columbia’s Wells Gray Provincial Park is seen in an undated handout photo. Handout / Tuya Terra Geo Corp., Catherine Hickson

Once at the site, Hollis hooked his rope to one side of the cave entrance in preparation of rappelling down within the yawning pit as far as he could. In descending gradually, he encountered a ferocious waterfall coursing voluminously down through the cave to his right, with a cursory measurement of 61 metres in height. The steep descent, with the slope of the cave ranging from 45 to 75 degrees, saw loose rocks posing a hazard as they threatened to tumble from above.

The caver ducked under a large snow plug three to five metres thick at the bottom of the waterfall, in an effort to ascertain how much deeper the cave descended into the earth. Landing on a small ledge 75 metres under ground level he came across an underground river so monstrously raucous he was incapable of hearing any other sound, including that of his radio for contact with those above ground awaiting word from him. This was the point at which he began his long ascent and exit from the cave.

The search to understand all the geological features of the cave has only just begun. Hollis and the research team have plans for a return in the coming year to engage in additional reconnaissance of the immense subterranean area. A full expedition is being planned to take place in 2020. It took the caver a full hour to descend to the level of the river, and another hour on the ascent, using a route known only to himself.

Caver Lee Hollis (left) and archaeological surveyor John Pollack were part of the first research team to explore an enormous cave discovered in March 2018 in B.C.’s Wells Gray Provincial Park. Courtesy of Lee Hollis