Jaskinia Wielka Śnieżna

Jaskinia Wielka Śnieżna ("great snowy cave") is a limestone cave in mount Małołączniak in the Western Tatras. With the length of 23.619 km and vertical range of 824 m, it is the largest and deepest cave of Poland.

Morphology

Wielka Śnieżna has five entrances:

They are connected by a complicated system of shafts and passages. Several of them contain underground trickles, waterfalls, pools, or siphons. The cave is drained by a karst spring known as Lodowe Źródło ("icy spring").

Exploration

Jaskinia Śnieżna was discovered in 1959 by cavers from Zakopane. In 1960, it reached the depth of 545 m, which made it, at that time, fourth deepest cave in the world. In the subsequent years, the cave was intensively explored and connected with other caves. The exploration is still ongoing, including attempts to connect the cave to Śnieżna Studnia, second largest cave in Poland.

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