22 May 2016 – Toufic ABOU NADER describes himself as a 30 year old sports marketing and sports events manager during business hours, and an explorer during his private time. The young adventurer decided to challenge himself this year. His target is the deepest cave in the world!
The expedition is from the 25th of July until the 28th of August. The trip to the lowest point and back up is 10 to 14 days.
It all started in the Lebanese Mountains where he was born and raised. “This shaped my love for the outdoors and sport,” he says. Toufic is also an activist irrelevant of the cause. “I am an adventure lover, an adrenaline junkie and a traveler. I have been caving and leading caving trips for the past 5 years.”
The challenge is exploring the deepest cave of the world: Krubera in Abkhazia.
- Altitude: – 2197m
- Length: 16km
- Date: July 25th –August 28th, 2016
- Objective: find a link between Krubera Voronya (the deepest cave) and Berchilskaya (adjacent cave).
“My primary objective is to reach the deepest accessible point of the cave; while my secondary objective is to support the ongoing expedition find a link between the two adjacent caves.”
Toufic decided to do this challenge to raise awareness and funds to support blind kids’s education. But this particular cause came out of an amazing idea:
“The concept came from the idea if you have no artificial light in the cave, you are totally blind. So a caver possibly gets to, momentarily, experience what life may be like for a person without sight. Having said that, I will be raising funds to support “The Lebanese School for the Blind and Deaf”.”
“Based on this concept, the idea of building a community of likeminded cavers came to life. So I recently started a platform to gather cavers who are interested in supporting the education of blind children. The community is called Caving 4 Cause (www.caving4cause.org).”
The main difficulties: “The cave temperature. Krubera is cold compared to the caves I have done. The second difficulty is that I do not have a team. So it is going to be challenging to work with cavers I have not caved with from before.”
What drives him to do such challenges?
“My internal need for self-discovery and self-improvement motivates me to always push my own personal limits and boundaries. I thrive on experiencing new, and different challenges that take me beyond my comfort zone. I am driven by the thrill of surprise and exploration, and how I react to new and different scenarios. I feel truly alive when I’m exploring the unknown, off the beaten path!”
Why is he doing this challenge in particular?
I have a passion for caving! So of course exploring the deepest cave in the world was definitely on my bucket list! I am also, very much looking forward the opportunity of working with experienced, professional cavers from around the world, and to perhaps gaining some knowledge and experience from these accomplished explorers.
Driven by his mental power and his will to help others, Toufic came with an amazing initiative: “I do it because I can”: (www.idoitcausican.com)
The idea of “I Do It Cause I Can” has multiple objectives to serve the same purpose:
- It is a platform on which I share my experiences – both sports and aid work. In doing so, I hope to be able to motivate others to get out of their comfort zone and experience new for themselves
- It is also to prove that with reliance, strength and dedication anyone can achieve whatever they truly want.
- And lastly, the reader should read the phrase “I Do It Cause I Can” in first person, so they start believing they can!
What are his next challenges?
At the moment I am dedicating all my focus into preparing for Kubera. When I return I’ll begin looking for a new challenge. I’d like to explore the 2nd and 3rd deepest caves in the world. However, I am an adventurer and an explorer – it does not necessarily mean only caves. If a challenge or opportunity presented its self for me to get my adrenaline charged again, I’d definitely grab it! So watch this space!!
All the best Toufic!
The post Toufic ABOU NADER to the Deepest Cave in the World! appeared first on Sports 961.