Riesending

Synopsis

Speleologist Josef Häberle had an accident in the Riesending cave near Berchtesgaden in Germany. With a serious head injury, he lies at a depth of more than 1,000 meters – and at a distance of more than 12 kilometres from the entrance to the cave. His Swiss climbing partner Ralf Sommer returns to the surface and calls the rescue coordination centre, while the other colleagues, Bernd and Lucy Hellersdorf, stay with the injured man. Although only a few experts worldwide have ever gone so deep into this cave, a team of mountain rescuers under the command of Bertram Erhardt takes responsibility. Still, they lack almost any practical speleological expertise. Therefore, the international speleological community is called to help.