ROCKY MOUNTAINS – More than 2,000 feet below the surface in a dark cave, Katie Graham snapped her ankle.
She moaned in pain as she took off her shoe and sock to inspect, but the caver hadn't yet known her swollen foot was broken and needed surgery.
Graham, along with a crew of experienced cavers and documentary filmmakers, was in Canada’s deepest known cave, Bisaro Anima, near Fernie, B.C., and over a few days, she slowly made her way out, crawling from hundreds of metres below.
Though, before she went to the hospital, the out-going Albertan did what can be only described as relatable after camping in a cold cave for several days, and casually stopped at the nearest hamburger joint first.
“On that same trip [into Bisaro Anima], another guy broke two ribs, and that cave has also claimed three broken fingers, so it’s not a good statistic,” Graham said with a laugh.
It’s all part of the Type 2 fun Graham loves – agony while it happens, but highly rewarding later — and the journey and everything in between is in the documentary, Subterranean, which screens Nov. 4 at the Banff Mountain Film Festival at the Banff Centre, with morning and afternoon showtimes.
Winning international awards, Subterranean is about mountain adventure, niche culture, discovery and expeditions of two underground teams attempting to discover record-breaking depths and lengths of caves in Canada.
For everyone involved in the obscure team sport of caving, there is one burning question that they ask themselves: what’s around the next corner?
“It’s like the unanswered question and you almost get possessed and you want to know what’s farther,” said Graham. “The most exciting cave is the hypothetical cave … You punch in the data, and you’re guessing what happens and where it goes.”
Graham, who lives in Golden, B.C., plays a big role in that search when she's not already playing with dead rats.
Using multi-sport techniques like rock/ice climbing, rappelling, and scuba diving, Graham squeezes through tight passages to discover the deepest depth of Bisaro Anima – way down 683 metres, which is 130m longer than the 553m tall CN Tower, Canada’s tallest building.
“That’s the fun of it,” said Graham. “I love the multifaceted nature of combining all these sports and doing whatever you need to pass the characteristic of the cave. That’s what actually makes it interesting.”
Going into her first cave in Bragg Creek back in 2008, Graham was sucked in by the excitement of her fellow cavers. Over the years, she's taught herself mentally to stay relaxed in situations that could become dangerous, like when she broke her ankle and had to essentially rescue herself.
The documentary was filmed between 2018, 2019 and 2021; however, Graham and her team's work inside Bisaro Anima is far from complete. Another expedition to the cave is being planned with a goal to try and discover how deep it really is.
"We believe the depth potential of the cave is 860 metres and we think we know where the exit is," said Graham.
Following Subterranean’s screening in Banff, the documentary will have its broadcast premiere on Knowledge Network Nov. 7 and then will stream for free online on www.knowledge.ca/subterranean.
