World4Traveler

Up to now some 700 caves and potholes (simas) have been explored in the province of Malaga and the most important ones, geologically speaking, are situated in the Sierra de las Nieves. The pothole called Sima GESM (GESM stands for Grupo de Exploraciones Subterráneas de Málaga) with an explored depth of over 1100 metres is Europe's deepest.

As mankind has always been attracted to these mysterious cavities where silence and darkness reign supreme it did not take us long to make an  attempt to explore one of the minor potholes called Raja Helada (Frozen Crack) in the aforementioned Sierra de las Nieves.

To reach our destination we entered this nature park from the road between Ronda and San Pedro, the A 376, at km 136 where you turn right and follow a winding and partly tarmacked road of about 12 km that takes you to the Quejigales recreation zone. This is where most people start a walk to the 1919 metres high Torrecilla, a hike that is clearly signposted and leads along the potholes that can be found there.

From the recreation zone we first had to find our way through an impressive forest of Pinsapo trees, some of them grotesquely malformed due to strong winds and heavy snow fall. The path climbs steadily from a height of 1300 metres all the way up to 1750 metres after which you leave the forest and find yourself at the Puerto de los Pilones supplying a magnificent view of a rather barren landscape dotted with gal oaks and the evergreen shrub carpets of the juniper. To the south on a clear day you can even see Gibraltar. From there we turned right and followed a small path that after about thirty minutes lead us alongside a 'pozo de nieve'  a sort of snow collector that was used in times of yore when people did not have access to a fridge. Along the way we saw some scattered sheep and high above in the sky a lonely vulture was scanning the ground for carrion. After about 1.5 km we came to our destination the sima called Raja Helada with a depth of about one hundred metres. |The entrance is situated on the left side of the path, 1720 metres above sea level right in the middle of a small area of low, sharp edged rocks so we had to negotiate our way between the fissures in a most careful manner.

The depth of the Raja Helada (150 metres) is of course nothing compared to the fabled Sima GESM but once you have passed the sloped entrance you marvel at the unique discolouring on the cave walls in all shades of green, caused by the seepage of water and the consequent build up of salts. Nevertheless it is always a risky business and especially during the rainy season the entrance can be very slippery. Being but humble amateurs we only 'explored' the first 35 metres but were in awe of the forces of nature and the absolute silence, only broken every now and then by a timid dripping of water through the Karstic rocks.

Now, before all ye good people start making a beeline for this pothole a word of warning should not go amiss here. For a start one is here in a National Park and in order to develop speleological activities permission should be sought from the  Delegación Provincial de Medio Ambiente in Málaga. Suffice is to say that one should go well equipped and in a healthy state of body and mind but after all these requirements have been met it is a breathtaking experience, literally and figuratively speaking.