Extreme experiment: A 50-year-old Spanish athlete emerges out of cave after 500 days

When she entered the cave, she was 48. The next two birthdays she celebrated inside a cave. With little contact with the outside world, a now 50-year-old Spanish extreme athlete completed a 500-day challenge in which she lived 230 feet deep in a cave outside of Granada city in Spain. Elite mountaineer Beatriz Flamini smiled as she acclimated to the springtime light in southern Spain. Speaking to the media present there, she said time had gone by fast and she did not want to come out.

"When they came in to get me, I was asleep. I thought something had happened. I said: 'Already? Surely not.' I hadn't finished my book," she said.

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According to Flamini's support team, she broke the world record for the longest period of time spent in a cave during an experiment that was observed by scientists looking at the human brain and circadian rhythms.

Many historic events have gone by in the time the athlete spent inside the cave. Before the Ukraine War broke out, Spain's COVID mask law came to an end, and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II passed away, Flamini set off on her adventure on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021.

Her team said that she did emerge for eight days, but she remained sequestered in a tent as they worked to fix the router that allowed her to communicate with them through voice and video.

About pressing her panic button, she said, "Never. In fact I didn't want to come out."

Flamini worked out, painted and knitted wool caps while she was underground. According to her support crew, she brought two GoPro cameras to record her journey and consumed 1,000 litres of water. She took 60 books with her when she entered.

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"On day 65, I stopped counting and lost perception of time," she said.She said that her attention had been on maintaining "coherence," eating healthily, and savouring the stillness. She eagerly anticipated the delicacies like avocados, fresh eggs, and clean t-shirts that her support crew sent down before acting "like gods." They took care of her waste too.

"I didn't talk to myself out loud, but I had internal conversations and got on very well with myself," she joked.

"You have to remain conscious of your feelings. If you're afraid, that's something natural but never let panic in or you get paralysed."

"If it's no communication it's no communication regardless of the circumstances. The people who know me knew and respected that."

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She said that under no circumstances, not even in the event of a family death, should her staff get in touch with her. A team of psychologists, scientists, cave experts, and physical trainers kept an eye on Flamini to gain knowledge on how social isolation may influence time, sleep, and brain processes.

Flamini has not yet decided on further climbing and caving initiatives. She said she would allow doctors to examine her body and mind.

Earlier, 33 Chilean and Bolivian miners who were buried for 69 days and 688 metres (2,257 feet) below in 2010 were given the title of "longest time survived trapped underground" by the Guinness Book of Records website. It is unclear if that record is broken or there is a new record Flamini has set by living in isolation inside the cave for 500 days.

(With inputs from agencies)

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