A Spanish extreme athlete returned to the fresh air on Friday morning after spending a total of 500 days in two stages in a cut-off natural cave 70 meters below the surface. But why ? 20 Minutes tells you what, according to the Spanish press, is the world record in this category for the longest time you spend underground in total isolation.
How did Beatriz Flamini descend into the cave?
Beatriz Flamini said on November 21, 2021 she descended into a cavity located 70 meters underground and about 10 km from Motril, a small town in southern Andalusia (southern region of Spain). She will have spent a total of 508 days there if we calculate the two days of descent and ascent.
However, according to several Spanish media, including the daily El País, the 50-year-old had to interrupt this experience for safety reasons and return to the surface for about a week before descending into this cave. AFP was unable to obtain any confirmation from the athlete or his entourage, but in statements to one of these media outlets, she admitted going upstairs and claimed to have spent that time alone and in isolation. Beatriz Flamini, who had volunteered for a scientific experiment, came to the surface with the help of speleologists. She appeared smiling when she saw the light of day this Friday, April 14th.
What did she do for 500 days?
During a press conference on Friday, Beatriz Flamini explained that she only had books, artificial lights and cameras to record her experience, but that she had no phone or device to know the time or day of the year.
The Spanish athlete, who said he drank 1,000 liters of water, was refueled by a team who left food in a corner of the cave to avoid an encounter. In one of her videos, Beatriz, who was hugged by her relatives as she left the natural cave on Friday, explains that she spent her time underground doing exercises to stay in shape. Ella also painted, read 60 books, drew and knitted, she says, wool hats. As El País notes, she also celebrated her birthday twice.
Why did Beatriz Flamini lead this challenge?
Beatriz Flamini’s stay in this cave in the Andalusian Sierra was monitored by scientists with two cameras. It was part of a scientific experiment designed to study the physical and psychological effects of total isolation and the long-term loss of time markers. During a press conference organized about two hours after she finally left the cellar in Motril, Beatriz Flamini apologized several times for her difficulties in finding her words.
“Challenges of this type have been many, but none with all the characteristics of these: alone and in total isolation, incommunicado, without (natural) light, without time reference,” commented David Reyes, member of the Andalusian Speleological Association responsible for the safety of the cave athletes was responsible.
For his part, Spanish Tourism Minister Héctor Gómez, in an interview with Spanish Public Television (TVE), praised the athlete’s performance, describing “a manifestation of extreme resistance”. Note that in 1962, Frenchman Michel Siffre had lasted fifty-nine days alone. In 2021, a group of 15 French people spent forty days in community investigating the loss of temporal landmarks. Beatriz Flamini has now found the Open Air.
What were Beatriz Flamini’s first words?
“I haven’t spoken to anyone for a year and a half, I was alone with myself,” said Beatriz Flamini during a press conference in Motril on Friday. The one who spent 500 days underground also described the experience as “excellent” and “unparalleled”…despite an invasion of flies. “It’s not that time goes faster or slower, it’s that time doesn’t go at all because it’s always 4 a.m.,” explained the accomplished mountaineer and climber during her stay at 70 meters below the surface. And to explain again that on day 65 I lost all notion of time.
“It was a pretty safe environment, but it’s hostile to the human brain because we don’t see the light of day,” continued Beatriz Flamini. We don’t see the time go by. You no longer have a reference or sound stimulation. It’s always the same silence and the same drops fall. »