The Deadliest place on Earth? Surviving Cueva de los Cristales - The Giant Crystal Cave

By Paul Williams
From: http://www.ironammonite.com/

Summary: Filming in the Giant Crystal Cave for 'How Earth Made Us'. One of the deadliest places on the planet.

It's 50oC and has a humidity of 100%, less than a hundred people have been inside and it's so deadly that even with respirators and suits of ice you can only survive for 20 minutes before your body starts to fail. It’s the nearest thing to visiting another planet – it’s going deep inside our own.

For 'How Earth made us' I have been lucky enough to film everywhere from tiny Pacific islands to the centre of the Sahara desert, yet nowhere could prepare me for filming in The Giant Crystal Cave - Cueva de los Cristales of Mexico.

Probably the most incredible photograph of the cave ever taken. Photograph by Carsten Peter/Speleoresearch & Films.

Highway to Hell

My director, Nigel Walk and I, arrived in the quiet town of Naica as the morning sun painted the Chihuuahua desert a golden hue - it was a serene moment of calm that wasn't to last long. Within minutes we were inside the mine complex tumbling and bumping our way downwards, deep into a subterranean world. The air became dusty, thick and heavy, my skin tingled as sweat exuded from every pore – deeper and deeper we went. If you were a miner in these unforgivable tunnels you might refer to this road as the highway to hell, but for the few outsiders who have made the journey it's a right of passage to see one of the world’s most magnificent natural treasures.

1000 feet down, we arrived at the control room where conditions were already an exhausting 45oC and 55% humidity. Here we were greeted by Gonzalo Infante of Speleoresearch & Films, a larger than life character whose contagious passion for this inhospitable place had allowed us to come this far. For more than five years he has tirelessly worked to share the wonders of Naica with the world and to preserve them for future generations. It is his experience, and a 15 man team, that would keep us alive as we filmed this geological wonder.

The control room. An exhausted team member gets assessed in the medical area.

‘You think this is hot’ said Gonzalo gesturing towards a vaulted iron door ‘This is just a cool breeze compared to what you’ll feel like in there’… ‘ready to go?’ At this point I had expected to be stepping into an oversized bright orange ice-suit and putting on a huge respirator backpack. Everyone else seemed to be dressed like characters from The Ghostbusters, but Gonzalo insisted that our first visit should be a completely raw experience allowing us to physically and mentally prepare, just in case, for whatever reason, we should end up spending much longer inside than we had anticipated …anxiously we heaved open the door and entered.

Entering the Chasm

Nigel and I intrepidly stepped forwards – to say that the heat hit us like a wall would be an understatement, my glasses steamed up and their metal frames almost burnt me - I had to leave them at the entrance. A slightly fuzzy view however did not perturb my sense of awe. I was dumbstruck. A torrent of sweat streamed from my head, my energy was being sucked away, and my breathing became heavy. The view was enthralling, my eyes led me forwards but my body wanted to retreat. I was dwarfed by a forest of giant gypsum crystals, some up to 12 metres long - the largest crystals ever discovered, some estimated to weigh as much as 55 tonnes. It was something that had to be seen to be believed and I was doing just that... however within just five minutes I had gone from a reasonably fit 30 year old to an asthmatic 60 year old – it is the antithesis to the elixir of life!

Wearing the ice suite and cool air ventilator. Feeling exhausted after 20mins in the cave.

As the air became more oppressive I only hoped that I would last to tell the tale... could we do this place justice and film the ‘crown jewel’ of our series in just two days? Professor Iain Stewart, our presenter, was arriving tomorrow and as a fellow geologist I couldn’t wait to hear what he thought. This was going to be the most challenging shoot of my life.

Aborted Relics

Cueva de los Cristales is the incarnation of our most awesome science fiction imaginations - Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Superman's Fortress of Solitude. At about the same time as humans first ventured out of Africa, these crystals began to slowly grow. For half a million years they remained protected and nurtured by a womb of hot hydrothermal fluids rich with minerals.

Undisturbed, one can only guess how big they may have eventually grown. Yet when mining began here over a hundred years ago, the water table was lowered and the cave drained. The crystals seemingly interminable development was frozen forever leaving them as aborted relics of the deep earth. It wasn't until 2001 that miners, searching for lead, eventually penetrated the cave wall and brought it to light. The very act of discovering and witnessing them has triggered their slow decay and now no one knows what their fate will be. Once the mine ceases to operate it could be flooded by polluted mine water and abandoned forever, and that's if ambitious mineral sellers don't get to them first and rip them out to sell around the world – a plight of other smaller crystal caves in the area. My hope is that Gonzalo will prevail in his mission to secure funding and to preserve this site as a world heritage monument. To me they are a testament to the hidden forces of the planet, forces which operate on scales far beyond our own.

Who knows what other wonders lie hidden deep inside the earth.

This is me and one of Gonzalo's team right in the heart of the cave. The furthest and most difficult part to reach is just behind me - it takes 10 minutes just to get there.

Trying to scramble over the jagged crystals whilst wearing an oversized jump suit stuffed with ice, and a large backpack, is no easy feat - especially when carrying a large professional camera. Photograph by Carsten Peter/Speleoresearch & Films

It's such as task to get into the cave that by the time we were in position to film a shot the doctor was calling for us to get back out. Photograph by Carsten Peter/Speleoresearch & Films

Read more about the Crystal Cave and view more images in this special article by National Geographic.

How Earth Made Us will be airing on BBC2 (UK) and National Geographic (USA) early in 2010.

Posted by Paul Williams

5 Top Retro Eco-Supercars: Best Fuel Sippers of the Past 34 Years

Prius is the fuel-economy king, but for how long? Bruising gas prices, new federal regulations and a wave of hybrids, plug-ins, clean diesels and electric vehicles are combining to change the U.S. fleet. But this isn't the first time companies have looked to fuel efficiency instead of horsepower. Following twin energy crises in the 1970s, a new breed of cars began to appear. They were small, streamlined and, by today's standards, underpowered. But they scored big at the fuel pump. In 1975, the Environmental Protection Agency began tracking the gas mileage on all vehicles sold in the U.S. In 24 of those 34 model years since, one or another of these five cars has been the most fuel-efficient car in the country. All fuel economy numbers are updated to reflect the newest EPA testing regime. Back in the day, they would have been even higher.

By Jy Murphy

Published on: October 23, 2008

The All-Time Stingiest: Honda Insight

It seems a bit unfair to put a hybrid

Best Non-Hybrid: Chevy Sprint

The age of the fuel injector had begun decades ago, but even by the 1980s, the Sprint didn't care. With a computer-controlled carburetor, a 48-hp, three-cylinder engine and a curb weight under 1600 pounds, the Sprint achieved 44 mpg city and 53 mpg highway, and it won the fuel economy title in 1986, '87 and '88. Suzuki engineered the car, basically an American version of 1985's mpg champ, the Suzuki SA310, and many of its basics carried through to the Geo Metro of later years (see Geo Whiz). The Sprint was available as a two-door or four-door with no change in fuel economy. A turbocharged and fuel-injected version made 70 horsepower and would zoom to 60 mph in 9.4 seconds, but mileage dropped to 37/43. The base model, with a sticker price around five grand, came with AM radio; load it up and you got FM too, plus a cassette tape player and a digital clock.

Geo Whiz: Geo Metro XFI

A couple of years ago we were calling automotive experts around the country to ask whether you could build a 100-mpg 4-passenger vehicle with today's technology. A great many experts said something like, “Sure. Take a Geo Metro, rip out everything but the seats, cover the wheel well openings and detune the engine for a top speed of 50 and you're there." We never tested that proposition, but there's no doubting the Metro's economy—the model's seven mpg titles are matched only by the Insight. The Metro XFI was especially frugal, winning five straight years beginning with the 1990 model that achieved 43 mpg city and 51 mpg highway with a 5-speed manual. Many owners reported highway economy over 60 mpg, and the 10.6-gallon tank was good for 500 or more miles between fill-ups. Like the Insight and the Sprint, the Metro featured a 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine. The Metro's powerplant weighed only 134.5 pounds, thanks to numerous aluminum components, and made 49 hp and 58 lb.-ft. of torque. But since the car weighed just over 1600 pounds, it had descent zip. It was reliable, affordable—base msrp was $5995—and with the rear and passenger seats down, you could carry along a 5-ft. foosball table. Game on.

Geo Whiz: Geo Metro XFI

A couple of years ago we were calling automotive experts around the country to ask whether you could build a 100-mpg 4-passenger vehicle with today's technology. A great many experts said something like, “Sure. Take a Geo Metro, rip out everything but the seats, cover the wheel well openings and detune the engine for a top speed of 50 and you're there." We never tested that proposition, but there's no doubting the Metro's economy—the model's seven mpg titles are matched only by the Insight. The Metro XFI was especially frugal, winning five straight years beginning with the 1990 model that achieved 43 mpg city and 51 mpg highway with a 5-speed manual. Many owners reported highway economy over 60 mpg, and the 10.6-gallon tank was good for 500 or more miles between fill-ups. Like the Insight and the Sprint, the Metro featured a 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine. The Metro's powerplant weighed only 134.5 pounds, thanks to numerous aluminum components, and made 49 hp and 58 lb.-ft. of torque. But since the car weighed just over 1600 pounds, it had descent zip. It was reliable, affordable—base msrp was $5995—and with the rear and passenger seats down, you could carry along a 5-ft. foosball table. Game on.

Original Champ, Still Contending: Honda Civic

This is the only vehicle on our list that you can still get with that new-car smell. The Civic has been EPA champ six times, in three different decades, beginning with the Civic CVCC in 1975, the first year the EPA kept track. Perhaps no other model in U.S. history has such a consistent record for fuel-efficiency and reliability in one package. The most economical so far was the 1986-'87 Civic coupe HF, that delivered 42 mpg city and 51 mpg highway but lost the title in those years to the Chevy Sprint. The thriftiest yearly champ was the 1989 Civic CRX HF, a two-seater that got 41 mpg city and 50 mpg highway with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder and 5-speed manual transmission. Perhaps more relevant is the economy of the four-passenger Civic sedan; since 1986 the mid-grade model has never achieved less than 24 mpg city and 29 mpg highway, and in the last decade the figures are 25 mpg city and 33 mpg hwy and better. In the late 1970s, four passengers in a CVCC meant bruised knees for those in the backseat, but highway economy was about 40 mpg. The 2008 Civic has a spacious backseat, the usual expected amenities, and an umpteen-star safety rating. Our mileage on a recent highway trip? About 40 mpg. And that wasn't even the hybrid version.