Switzerland | Cave trekking in Switzerland: Overnight in the middle of the mountain

Bizarre formations: Hölloch Photo: Trekking Team/Georg Taffet & AGH 2021 What the hell am I doing? I could have skipped the passage or bypassed it - like Miro, who is also 15 centimeters taller than me. But too late! I go headfirst into a shoulder-width hole. In the light of the headlamp, crawl after the other five human lizards and down a rocky level, with your knees and palms on bumpy stone, plenty of space left and right, but not above your head. Appropriate name for this special passage: Rebirth Canal.

In order to master the path well, the guide Marcel Rota, who is crawling in front, gives the commands: “Slide sideways on your knees at the water point!” However, I slide down into the waist-deep pool, my right leg soaking wet. I curse and push myself through the hole above the pool with a slight pull in my back. And I have to laugh myself when I look back: I got through this slanted gap? I actually feel like I've been reborn.

No wonder, there is space above me again, lots of space. A 20-meter-high waterfall sprays from one corner of the cave hall. Here a stream with a "pebble beach", there stately rocks - who would have guessed that such beauties lie deep in the interior of the Schwyz Alps? And so much life. “56 species of animals live in the Hölloch, mainly worms, crabs, spiders and insects,” says Marcel. It's no wonder that speleologists from all over the world spend days underground here. But also hobby adventurers.

In on Saturday morning, out again on Sunday afternoon - that's the plan when Marcel is on the road with cave greenhorns like me. 26 hours without natural light, without familiar noises and smells. And without a sense of time: watches and cell phones stay in the hut not far from the small town of Muotathal. This is followed by a short climb to the cave entrance, then, already inside the mountain, an even easier walk for half an hour. Leveled paths, stairs, remains of a power supply that was destroyed in the flood of 1910. After that, the cave, discovered in 1875, was deserted for a long time. Even after their “rediscovery” in the 1950s, there was no fanfare or trains.

From the “Pulpit” comes the “wild” part of the cave, with no fixed paths, signs or lighting. Only a few key points are secured with ropes or ladders. Otherwise everything is natural.

First break at the “Windtor”, where the corridor is narrowed with wooden slats and can even be closed completely. The suction effect shows whether the air comes from the cave exits around 900 meters higher up or flows there. This allows us to draw conclusions about the weather: if the air blows upwards, it is colder above 2000 meters. Precipitation there mostly falls as snow; If it falls as rain, too much moisture could seep through and - with a delay of around seven hours - cause problems in the cave: A few years ago, a group was prevented from returning for days due to too much water, but everyone survived unscathed and thanks to supplies in the night's quarters.

Is this also a threat in our case? Heavy rain is forecast for Sunday morning. "If we're not out by 2 p.m. tomorrow, 60 rescuers will be deployed," says Marcel. He is the only one who has a watch with him, but he never reveals the time.

Night's rest underground Photo: Trekking Team Key points are the U-shaped, recently flooded "siphons". Even during the check the day before our tour, the first of the new season, Marcel still had to swim through a spot in four degree cold water. When we get there, there is a rubber boat waiting for us with which we cross the 15 meter long lake. Casual!

Marcel has been leading groups to Hölloch for around 30 years – and is still brimming with enthusiasm. "I'm in the cave 120 days a year." In his cave, you could say, even though it formally belongs to the Trekking Team AG, which bought the rights of use for tourism in 1995. Due to the location in the nature reserve, there are strict requirements. Demand has been increasing for years, from (corporate) groups to cliques of friends and individuals.

Things move along quickly until we reach the “Evil Wall”. An iron ladder leads 40 meters up, ultimately a normal via ferrata, but the darkness creates a special atmosphere. Once at the top, the rest of the path goes up and down. “I feel like a mountain climber,” says Vera, “only the grandeur is missing, the horizon, the expanse.” Although some passages have surprising dimensions, such as the “Giant Hall” or some long corridors that are taller than a man.

But there are also lower sections: slopes where you have to use your hands or slide down on the seat of your pants. Every now and then you have to contort yourself and take off your backpack until you finally reach your night's accommodation. Supplies, candles, carbide lamps and a petrol stove are stored here, which can be used to make tea and coffee. Then we go on the second round without a backpack - with an even stronger expedition character. Stalactites of all kinds, slippery slopes and crevices where you have to lower yourself using the clamping technique.

Elsewhere it's just on your knees and forearms. In an even narrower corridor, the helmet even has to be removed briefly. Relief when two-meter man Miro manages to squeeze through the final crack. It's just going that way. And emotion when guide Marcel turns out the last lamp himself during the break. The world is not otherwise known to be so dark. And so quiet.

The peace ends at the “cathedral bivouac”. Now teamwork is required: setting the table, cutting baguettes, preparing fondue. At some point we go to bed – a platform on which up to 20 people can roll out their sleeping bags. What time is it? 10 p.m.? Midnight? At three?

Waking up in the middle of the dark, then breakfast, rudimentary morning toilet. On the way back, I wasn't the only one who came to the realization that even if you had already walked some of the paths, you would hardly be able to find the exit on your own. Branches everywhere, similar backdrops.

When the group sees daylight again, they have only experienced a small section of the cave system. “It will soon be 2 p.m.,” says Marcel. »I'll let you know quickly so that the rescuers don't move out. Oh yes, most of them slept from half past one to half past six. That means over 20 hours on your feet, around 10 kilometers and more than 1000 meters in altitude. “Not bad,” says Vera. What else she says: “I would do it again, maybe even longer.”

The cave, which is located in the German-speaking town of Muotathal in the canton of Schwyz and has a constant temperature of around six degrees and sometimes 100 percent humidity, can be experienced with a guide between the end of October and mid-March. Trekking Team, as the sole organizer, offers multi-hour and multi-day excursions including overnight bivouac. A two-day tour (start: 10 a.m., end: 5 p.m. the following day) costs 545 Swiss francs. www.trekking.ch In general: The tour, which corresponds to mountain tours in pathless terrain, is physically demanding and no special knowledge is required. Good fitness, as well as good handling of darkness and narrow spaces. Group size is 5 to 9 people, individuals can join groups.

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