Beatriz Flamini is a Spanish

extreme athlete Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are physical activity, activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly speci ...

and mountaineer known for her acts of

self-isolation In health care facilities, isolation represents one of several measures that can be taken to implement in infection control: the prevention of communicable diseases from being transmitted from a patient to other patients, health care workers ...

and

self-sufficiency Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person, being, or system needs little or no help from, or interaction with others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a sel ...

. She is best known for her "Timecave" expedition, whereby she spent 500 days living in a cave in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, from November 2021 to April 2023.

Biography

Early career

Flamini studied to be a

sports instructor Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

, and was employed as an aerobics teacher in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. In the 1990s, she joined cave exploring expeditions as a photographer. She later moved to a mountain refuge in the

Sierra de Gredos The Sierra de Gredos is a mountain range in central Spain that spans the provinces of Ávila, Spain, Ávila, Salamanca, Spain, Salamanca, Cáceres, Spain, Cáceres, Madrid, and Toledo, Spain, Toledo. It is part of the much larger Sistema Central o ...

to be a rescue worker. In 2019, she was making preparations to cross Mongolia by foot. She moved to

Espigüete Pico Espigüete (2450 m) is a mountain in the Montaña Palentina, the mountainous far northern part of the province of Province of Palencia, Palencia in Castile and León, Spain. Despite not being the highest peak in the area, it is its most em ...

and began training at

Montaña Palentina Montaña Palentina is a Comarcas of Spain, comarca in the province of Palencia, in Castile and León, in Spain. It is the sub-provincial division used by the in its publications, although it does not correspond to the natural comarca, as it does ...

. She later decided that she was physically capable of the task, but was not mentally prepared for the prolonged isolation.

Timecave

To prepare for the social isolation in the Mongolian desert, Flamini intended to beat the record of 463 days spent in an underground cave set by Milutin Veljković. Flamini planned to be more strict with her seclusion than Veljković, wishing to completely disconnect from human interaction. She picked a cave north of

Motril Motril () is a town and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The main settlement is located a few kilometers inland, separated from the Port of Motril by the Guadalfeo delta. Mo ...

. The cave was deep, and the main chamber measured and had tall ceilings. The expedition became known as "Timecave". On November 21, 2021, Flamini entered the cave at the age of 48. Her time was spent recreationally exercising, drawing, reading, and knitting. She was conscious about maintaining the natural silence of the cave and limited how much she spoke aloud. Flamini had the ability to send messages above ground, but not to receive them. She was supported by a group of volunteers, who removed waste, provided food, and maintained her equipment. Provisions were

dead drop A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items or information between two individuals (e.g., a case officer and an agent, or two agents) via a secret location. By avoiding direct meetings, individuals can ...

ped halfway down the cave to limit interaction between support staff and Flamini. Her experiences were monitored by scientists, including

chronobiologist Chronobiology is a field of biology that examines Time, timing processes, including periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms, such as their adaptation to sun, solar- and moon, lunar-related rhythms. These cycles are known as biological ...

s at several Spanish universities. In September 2022, approximately 300 days into her isolation, Flamini began experiencing intense discomfort. She claimed this was due to "inaudible sonic waves" emitted by her emergency communication equipment. She moved her sleeping tent to the exit of the cave. She had a brief face-to-face discussion with a member of her team, ending her streak of seclusion. Her eight days spent at the exit of the cave disqualified her from beating the record set by Veljković. Flamini emerged from the cave on April 14, 2023. She stated that she enjoyed her tenure in the cave, and claimed she could have remained isolated for a further 500 days.

Biography

Early career

Timecave

See also

References

Further reading