FILE PHOTO: Beatriz Flamini, a Spanish mountaineer who has been isolated for 500 days in a cave is pictured during her daily life at the cave in Motril, Spain in this screen grab taken from a handout video in November 2021. Dokumalia Producciones/Handout via REUTERS.
MADRID 鈥� A 50-year-old Spanish extreme athlete emerged on Friday from a 500-day challenge living 70 meters (230 feet) deep in a cave outside Granada with minimal contact outside.
Wearing dark glasses and smiling as she adjusted to the light of spring in southern Spain, elite mountaineer Beatriz Flamini told reporters that time had flown by and she did not want to come out.
鈥淲hen they came in to get me, I was asleep. I thought something had happened. I said: 鈥楢lready? Surely not.鈥� I hadn鈥檛 finished my book,鈥� she said.
Flamini鈥檚 support team said she broke a world record for the longest time spent in a cave in an experiment monitored by scientists studying the human mind and circadian rhythms.
She was 48 when she went into the cave, celebrating two birthdays alone underground.
Flamini began her challenge on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021 鈥� before the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the end of Spain鈥檚 COVID mask requirement and the death of Britain鈥檚 Queen Elizabeth II.
She did come out for eight days, her team disclosed, but stayed isolated in a tent waiting for repairs to a router used to send audios and videos to tell her team how she was doing.
On Friday, she was greeted by a phalanx of cameras and her support team who encircled her in a hug.
Asked if she ever thought about pressing her panic button or leaving the cave, she replied: 鈥淣ever. In fact I didn鈥檛 want to come out.鈥�
FILE PHOTO: Beatriz Flamini, a Spanish mountaineer who has been isolated for 500 days in a cave is pictured during her daily life at the cave in Motril, Spain in this screen grab taken from a handout video in November 2021. Dokumalia Producciones/Handout via REUTERS.
Knitting and reading
Flamini spent her time underground doing exercises, painting and drawing and knitting woolly hats. She took two GoPro cameras to document her time, and got through 60 books and 1,000 liters of water, according to her support team.
She said she began her challenge trying to keep track of time. 鈥淥n day 65 I stopped counting and lost perception of time,鈥� she said.
There were hard moments 鈥� such as when the cave was invaded by flies 鈥� and some 鈥渂eautiful ones鈥�, she said. 鈥淚f this is your dream, and you鈥檙e realizing it, why are you going to cry?鈥�
She said she had focused on retaining 鈥渃oherence鈥�, eating well and relishing the silence. She looked forward to treats such as avocados, fresh eggs and clean t-shirts that her support team sent down before, 鈥渓ike gods鈥�, also removing her waste.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 talk to myself out loud, but I had internal conversations and got on very well with myself,鈥� she joked.
鈥淵ou have to remain conscious of your feelings. If you鈥檙e afraid, that鈥檚 something natural but never let panic in or you get paralyzed.鈥�
She said her team had been told to contact her under no circumstances, even about a family death. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 no communication it鈥檚 no communication regardless of the circumstances. The people who know me knew and respected that.鈥�
Flamini was monitored by a group of psychologists, researchers, cave specialists and physical trainers looking for insight into how social isolation and disorientation can affect time, brain patterns and sleep.
She was looking forward to a shower and sharing a plate of fried eggs and chips with friends. She said she would put herself in the hands of doctors to study the impact on her body and mind before planning new mountaineering and caving projects.
The Guinness Book of Records website awards the 鈥渓ongest time survived trapped underground鈥� to 33 Chilean and Bolivian miners who spent 69 days 688 m (2,257 ft) trapped in 2010.
A spokesperson for Guinness was not able to immediately confirm whether there was a separate record for voluntary time living in a cave and whether Flamini had broken it.