Awesome Caves

Mountain bike athlete Jono Jones and his pal Olly Wilkins followed Mountain Bike Nomad along one of the craziest trails we’ve ever seen. Donning headlamps for illumination, the trio took their bikes through the dark and narrow passageways of an abandoned Slovenian lead mine. Jono says this was just a short section of the ride.

Dara Tah lives for extreme experiences. He’s also claustrophobic. Dara and his pals faced their fears and snaked their way through the Ogof Y Daren Cilau, an insanely tight cave in Wales. On their 10-hour journey, they squeezed through a series of progressively smaller openings, culminating in the bone-crushing Vise.

Hailing from rural China, a man going by the nickname “Mr. Tiger” has been painstakingly digging into a mountainside to build a house. He used various hand and power tools to gradually chip away at the rock to create a small living space, which he hopes to expand over time. Follow his progress on YouTube or Ixigua.

Riding a mountain bike at downhill speeds in the daylight is daunting enough, but Kilian Bron and his buddies tried something even more sketchy – a ride through an abandoned mineshaft using only their headlamps to guide their way through the dark and dank maze.

70-year-old daredevil Ivan Trifonov recently flew his hot air balloon down into the Earth and inside Croatia’s Mamet Cave. While it’s not actually the first time that someone has flown a balloon in a cave, it’s still an impressive feat.

Using found materials from the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, artist Henrique Oliveira creates amazing installation pieces. Some are like caves of wonder we would love to explore. (Thanks Trina!)