In Gideå about 30 kilometres north of Örnsköldsvik there’s a very interesting tourist-attraction, The Skallbergscaves. The caves are a very unique nature experience and Sweden’s biggest primary rock. Gustav Sjögren is the man who made the caves available for the public. In 1972 he discovered the caves and since then this project has been his mission in life. He’s been working on his own with the caves, building stairs trough the deep crevice so he could map out the different caves. There are six caves in different sizes. Experts from the whole country and also from other countries comes to watch this strange creation. The caves are like a labyrinth, 220 metres long with a depth of 28 metres. The entrance of the crevice is 70 metres long and has a depth of 24 metres. There’s also a small lake below the cave. Gustav has built a miniature golf track in the middle of the mountain. He’s been setting pull offs and cold springs, and on the mountain there also is a very nice cabin. Gustav has built everything on his own without practical and financial help. How the caves was formed The left side of the mountain is composed of grey and red granite with crystals, formed for 1800 million years ago. The area has sunk below sea level and the granite was cracked under pressure and volcanic forces. Millions of years later the country was raised above its present level. Warm periods were followed by cold. The soft erodabler rock, that formerly filled the cracks in the granite, was washed away, leaving the present crevices and the caves in the Skallbergscaves. During the latest Ice age the mountain was forced below sea level and the south cave was destroyed. Sea waves entered the holes in the mountain and polished the rocks and the walls of the crevice. Our day at the Skallbergscaves
For about two weeks ago our school had a sports day and our class went to the caves. The feelings for this adventure
were very mixed, because for some people small and dark spaces could be very scary. In some parts of the cave it’s so
narrow that you can’t get trough if you don’t crawl and make yourself as small as possible. When you are in the caves
you absolutely need a flashlight, otherwise you can’t see your own hand in front of you. Almost everyone in our class
went in to the caves and we surely can say that it was very fun and interesting. Some of us felt very excited when we
came out from the cave. Because we had overcome our fear for dark and tight spaces. Even though it was very fun in the
caves, we understand those who didn’t go in. Because it’s absolutely no place for people with claustrophobia. It was a
very fun and exciting day and our class got to now each other better.
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