Jochen Hasenmayer | |
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 Jochen Hasenmayer, 2009 | |
| Born | (1941-10-28)28 October 1941 (age 84) |
| Occupation | Cave diver |
Jochen Hasenmayer (born 28 October 1941 inPforzheim,Germany)[1] is a Germanspeleologist andcave diver fromBirkenfeld inBaden-Württemberg, whose spectacular dives have frequently made headlines.
Hasenmayer began his cave diving career in 1957 at the age of fifteen, exploring the Falkensteiner Höhle nearStuttgart.[2] Beginning in the 1960s, Hasenmayer explored manykarst springs and caves in theSwabian Jura and elsewhere inSouthern Germany, including theWimsener Höhle, theAachtopf and theBlautopf. He became famous in 1985 due to the discovery of theMörikedom ("Mörike Cathedral", named after the German pastor and poetEduard Mörike), the second big air-filled chamber in theBlauhöhle, about 1,250 metres (4,100 ft) into the cave system.[3][4][5] Some of his terminuses (farthest point reached in a cave) have not been exceeded.
In the late 1970s, Hasenmayer was among the divers who searched for an underwater connection betweenKingsdale Master Cave and Keld Head in theYorkshire Dales. On 5 February 1978 Hasenmayer briefly became trapped in Keld Head. A British diver, Geoff Yeadon, shook Hasenmayer's hand through a gap in the cave, believing he was "shaking a dead man's hand", but Hasenmayer found his way out. The passage where the incident occurred became known as "Dead Man's Handshake".[2][6][7]
Hasenmayer spent decades developing the necessary diving equipment for his explorations. Well known as a safety fanatic, Hasenmayer has introduced unique practices perceived by some cave divers as safe, but which contradict the basic rules of normal diving.[citation needed][clarification needed] Hasenmayer was a pioneer in the use oftrimix breathing gas mixtures (addinghelium tooxygen andnitrogen).[8]
Hasenmayer and American cave diverSheck Exley became friends and rivals in the 1980s, each repeatedly attempting to break the depth records of the other. In 1981 Hasenmayer used mixed gas to reach a depth of 476 feet (145 m) in theFountain of Vaucluse in France.[8][9] Hasenmayer made the world's first 200 metres (660 ft) dive in the Fountain of Vaucluse on 9 September 1982, diving after dark because he had been denied a diving permit. His then-wife, Barbara, waited all night for him to surface.[10] In 1983 Hasenmayer made a mixed-gas cave dive to 656 feet (200 m) at Vaucluse.[8][9][11]
Due to a faulty depth gauge, in 1989 Hasenmayer surfaced too quickly after a dive in theWolfgangsee, a lake inAustria. His shortdecompression resulted inthe bends, causingparalysis, but his colleagues immediately placed him in a waitingdecompression chamber, and initially the paralysis was reversed. However, the emergency physicians at the hospital inGraz again decompressed Hasenmayer too quickly. Since that time he has been aparaplegic.[2][3][5] Hasenmayer did not give up diving, but since 1996 has used asubmersible, theSpeleonaut, designed and built by Hasenmayer and his friendKonrad Gehringer, to explore the Blauhöhle.[3][12][13]
In 2001 Hasenmayer reached theMörikedom chamber of the Blauhöhle in theSpeleonaut. In 2004 he reached a point beyond theMörikedom 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) into the mountain. In the same year he discovered two more large chambers in the Blauhöhle: theMittelschiff (or "nave") and theÄonendom. For the last several years the Blautopf cave system has been explored by theArbeitsgemeinschaft Blautopf (Blautopf Study Group, or Consortium), a team of cave divers led by Hasenmayer.[14] The most recent fatal accident in the Blautopf occurred in 2003, killing Bernd Aspacher, a member of Hasenmayer's team.[15][16]
Hasenmayer developed a controversial theory on the subject ofkarst formation in Southern Germany. According to this theory, the Blauhöhle was formed between 25 million and 100 million years ago, much earlier than is currently believed.[3][4][5] Therefore, the Blauhöhle could not drain to the originalDanube Valley, today theBlau, and must have drained much farther south.[3] Since these caves are deep enough to contain large quantities ofthermal water, this could lead to the recovery ofgeothermal energy which could be used to solve energy problems in Southern Germany.[3][4][5] As an indication of the cave's age, Hasenmayer claimed that underwaterstalactites at the back of the cave were several million years old, but scientific investigation of a drip stone yielded an age of well under 10,000 years.[citation needed] Hasenmayer's theory was published in 1986,[17] but many scientists are sceptical of his claim.[3][4]
Hasenmayer has been awarded theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.[4][18]
Hasenmayer met his life partner Gaby Barth at a clinic during his rehabilitation from his decompression accident.[3] They live in Birkenfeld, near Pforzheim.[citation needed]
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