The age of great explorers seems to be past. Discovers have reached every continent, the North and South Poles, the highest mountain peaks, even the moon. Other than continued expansion into outer space, what’s left?
James Tabor’s book Blind Descent answers that question with a look at cave exploration. Specifically, the quest to find the deepest place on the earth. The book focuses on two explorers, Alexander Klimchouk of the Ukraine and Bill Stone of the USA, and their pursuit to find the deepest cave in the world. It’s a story of daring, science, pride and incredible risk. But then that’s the story of most great explorers.
This was a fun book to read. The descriptions of life in the caves is chilling at times, and Tabor can go over the top explaining the risks (to the point that he seems to be overcompensating, as if to make the point that this is REALLY REALLY DANGEROUS SO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!). But once you get past some of the gory details and long lists of things that can kill you underground, you realize … these guys and gals are over a mile deep under the surface of the earth and hey, this is really really dangerous stuff and I should take it seriously!
A fun book, a well written book, and a topic that is overlooked in the stories of discovery.
