This dive trip was sponsored by Ratio Watches. You can actually pick up a nice dive watch for yourself with a discount via our page here!
Schmallenberg is a quiet little town in the High Sauerland district of Germany. It’s a quaint and quiet town with seemingly no meaningful dive sites available. Yet we load up our van with everything we have and go for a drive through the magnificent German countryside. Destination: One of Europe’s most remarkable flooded mines.
After a short drive into the woods, piles of rubble alongside the road indicate that we have arrived.
Hidden by a large and unassuming hangar, a single narrow entrance shaft provides access to the Felictas mine. For this particular shoot, we have assembled a team that can help us with logistics, diver safety and lighting. Mine diving means we will be diving in an overhead environment, with zero tolerance for error. This type of diving is not to be taken lightly.
After gearing up in the 8 degrees Celsius or 46 degrees Fahrenheit water, we start our descent, following the rail tracks down the narrow mine shaft. This is a diagonal descent to exactly 30 meters, 100 feet, where the line splits into two sections of mine.
We have our eye set on a particularly dramatic artifact, some 300 meters or 1000 feet into the mine, so we deploy our propulsion vehicles and head there first. Don’t worry, we will definitely take a moment to inspect this abandoned excavation machinery on the way back.
A tunnel connects this chamber to the next one. Unfortunately this narrow tunnel is already clouded by some disturbed sediment. Because the mine has very little flow and the tunnel is narrow and long this sediment is not likely to settle quickly.
Time to stage our scooters. We will swim the remainder of the journey because we know there is no appropriate place to stage our DPV’s at our destination. That’s because our destination lies in a massive chamber with a single suspended line running across it.
As a cave diver, it’s easy to forget that these mines aren’t naturally formed. Every cubic meter of open space has been painstakingly excavated by human beings. Of course, tools were used for this excavation and across the massive chamber, sits exactly one of such tools. At the deepest point of our mine dive today.
This saw blade, stuck in the side of the wall, is the size of a small human being.
Because this entire section of the mine sits around 30 meters, 100 feet depth, we have to manage our bottom time wisely. We recover our scooters and trace back on our steps to the large room with excavators. Here too, we stage our propulsion vehicles so we can take our time to inspect the abandoned machinery in this large hall.
Mining operations in Felicitas were seized relatively recently, in 1997. This means that, at least in this part of the mine, modern machinery was used for the extraction of materials. When the mine closed, these machines were simply left inside.
When we explore caves or mines on the DiveSAGA channel, we often look into less recent history, but seeing these modern machines, as they were left on their final day of excavation, is definitely a unique experience.
Looking around, not just the machines but also the general architecture of the mine is intriguing. From the reinforced walls and tunnels, to the giant jagged rocks flanking the room. Everything in this mine looks like a movie set.
As a camera operator, I have to remind myself that I have a job to do and can’t just be looking around. Because of the depth, every second counts. Eventually, it’s time to turn the dive and navigate our way back to the entrance shaft. Please remember that mine diving, just like cave diving, holds significant risk and should not be attempted without proper training.
After making our way back through the shaft to the surface, we emerge one by one where the dive started. Kitting down in the water as much as possible and making way for the next diver to surface. Felicitas mine is an absolute must for every mine diver.
You can watch the whole YouTube video of this dive right here on the DiveSAGA channel!
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