Following up the official GoPro series “Searching the Maya Underworld – Quest for the Earth’s Biggest Cave”, the team’s explorations of Sistema el Puente continue.
There’s been some pretty amazing finds in previous Vanilla Sky Projects. As the team’s explorations continue, we wanted to document true exploration as it happened, providing the viewer with a sense of the exhaustive work, disappointment, frustration and exhilaration of exploration. Vanilla Sky Project 2017 was very difficult, and emotions ran the entire spectrum. I think we captured that in this series.
Challenges caused a sluggish start for this year’s project, but persistence was key, and it paid off with some new beautiful caves explored, new line laid, and some amazing and incredibly important finds made by the team.
Huge thanks to GoPro for time, support and guidance on this project.
VANILLA SKY PROJECT 2018 | TRAILER
PART I | SEARCHING SEARCHING SEARCHING
In their ongoing effort to explore and push the El Puente System, the Vanilla Sky Project Team faces the challenges of hiking deeper into the jungle to search for cenotes to explore and connect to El Puente, hiking several kilometers per day.
To find cenotes, you need to know where to look, and what to look for.
But finding a cenote is just the beginning, and with exploration, nothing is guaranteed.
The team’s dedication was tested both mentally and physically.
Live exploration, as it happened, shot 100% on GoPro Hero4 and Hero5 cameras with BigBlue video lights.
PART II | WE HAVE TO DIG
Toddy and Claudia explore a stunningly gorgeous new cenote and lay lots of new line in this very highly decorated new cave close to the el Puente System.
As the team starts finding cenotes that look like they go, it takes some work getting the teams and the equipment to the water at some beautiful cenotes.
Robbie and Anna find another beautiful unexplored cenote that goes, and the team starts exploring the cave. Some gorgeous passages, rooms and unreal formations in this new cave.
Live exploration, as it happened, shot 100% on GoPro Hero4 and Hero5 cameras with BigBlue video lights
PART III | MAISON
This very special place held its magnificent secrets for thousands of years.
While exploring from a nearby cenote, the team makes some incredibly important ancient finds, raising lots of questions about the history of the Mayans in the area.
On a subsequent survey and research dive at the site, Marty and Brian make another very important discovery, which further adds to the questions.
The team takes team archaeologist Dante to the site so he can survey, document and catalog their findings both above and below the water at this magical place.
Live exploration, as it happened, shot 100% on GoPro Hero4 and Hero5 cameras with BigBlue video lights
PART IV | PROPER PLAN
The final episode from 2017 brings to you some of the indescribable beauty of El Puente, some bones from the last ice age, and some gear porn for the gear heads.
Some really cool finds by the team, including a skull found by Toddy, not far from Yab Yum. Jim shows Marty, Brian and Jeanna some fascinating bones he found recently, so they can get scale footage for Dante and Guillermo.
This episode has some really gorgeous footage of a beautiful, highly decorated section in El Puente System, with Toddy and Pako on the T-Reb rebreathers.
2018 Vanilla Sky Project goals are discussed.
Shot 100% on GoPro Hero4 and Hero5 cameras with BigBlue video lights
That’s it, until 2018….
FKD - Frog Kick Diving 