Man ventures into UK's 'most dangerous cave' where six bodies remain trapped decades after tragedy
A Norwegian climber has ventured deep into England's Mossdale Caverns in the Yorkshire Dales, where a flash flood killed six men in 1967.
Magnus Midtbø, a former competitive rock climber with more than 3.6 million YouTube subscribers documented his exploration on his channel.
Joined by his cameraman Sam, and a local caver who reached out to assist him, he aimed for reach Fourways, one of the deepest caverns in the system.
What stayed on Midtbø's mind throughout the descent, was the weather.
Advert
"I'm not afraid of being stuck in a cave as long as it's dry," he said, adding that the threat of flooding is what makes the trip so 'freaking terrifying'.
The guide told him heavy rain outside could flood their section within about an hour, leaving the team reliant on the forecast.
"If the weather forecast is wrong, then this place is going to flood," Midtbø said.
Beyond the looming threat of water, the expedition proved physically grueling.
The team navigated the infamous 'Knee-Recorder' crawl, a narrow, half-kilometer-long passage where there was no space to turn around.
Midtbø described it as the most claustrophobic experience of his life, noting that the constant friction of dragging his body through jagged rock and watr left him physically exhausted
The oppressive isolation of the deep cave played tricks on the explorers mind.
At one point, Midtbø reported hearing a deep, bass-like 'rumbling' echoing through the tunnel - a sound that momentarily terrified him as he imagined the worst-case scenario.
He also noted the surreal nature of encountering wildlife in the pitch-black depths, such as a moth flying near his helmet, which he lightheartedly dubbed a 'bad omen' amidst the otherwise stark and silent environment .
While the danger was clear, Midtbø’s persistence was fueled by the allure of the unknown.
He expressed that despite his intense fear, the unique opportunity to document 'unexplored potential', passages that few, if any, human eyes had ever laid upon, was a driving force that kept him moving deeper into the dark.
What happened during the Mossdale Caverns disaster?
The Mossdale Caverns disaster in 1967 remains the deadliest incident in British caving history. on June 24, 1967, a party of ten cavers entered the system to map its passages, with clear skies and a good forecast.
After several hours, four turned back for unclear reasons, while six pressed on into the depths of the caverns.
A sudden thunderstorm swelled Mossdale Beck, sending water into the entrance and flooding the narrow tunnels before the six could escape. The four who has surfaced tried to warn them, but the entrance was already submerged.
More than 300 rescuers, including the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association, built a makeshift dam and diversion ditch and used mechanical diggers and pumps to try to redirect the water. It is believed the whole cave filled in under an hour, and all six men, David Adamson, Geoff Boireau, John Ogden, Colin Vickers, Bill Frakes and Michael Ryan, drowned.
Rescuers judged it too dangerous to bring them out, so they remain inside.
Can you go inside Mossdale Caverns today?
The cave was sealed with concrete after the tragedy and stayed that way for many years. It was reopened a few years ago following talks with the victims' families, though few are thought to have gone inside, because of the extreme danger and a belief among some that it is haunted, with claims of voices echoing in the tunnels.
"I read somewhere that more people have been to outer space than down this cave," Midtbø told his guide, who replied: 'Probably.'
The guide estimated about 50 people have gone in and roughly 20 have reached Fourways, meaning, as Midtbø pointed out, around 30 percent of those who made it there had died.
Reaching the boiler room took 30 minutes of tight squeezes, and grass stuck to its roof showed floodwater can reach even there. The team steered clear of the Sanctuary, where the six men were laid to rest, and crawled through a passage over 1,600 feet long.
Having reached their goal, they hurried back out in case it started raining. "Oh my gosh, that's the most claustrophobic cave I've ever been to," Midtbø said.
Thomas Bamford