Record #00486Nature archive
Vrtoglavica Cave in Slovenia's Kanin massif contains an exceptionally deep natural vertical pitch. Guinness gives 603 m, whereas 1996–1997 original speleological accounts describe a 643 m continuous shaft.
Current Record
603(Guinness figure)
Current record value
Disagreement and differing conclusions：No definitive survey reconciliation has been located explaining 603 versus 643 m. Different pitch definitions or survey versions are possible but unproven; neither value is averaged or treated as universally settled.
View verification detailsThe shaft lies on the Kanin karst plateau in the western Julian Alps. Speleologists descended and surveyed its enormous vertical passage in 1996, publishing a depth near 643 m.
The published figures differ: Guinness lists an uninterrupted 603 m shaft, while Slovenian cave research and the 1996 expedition accounts state 643 m. Whole-cave depth and the largest continuous pitch are also different measures, and no single reconciled modern survey has been established here.
There is a documented substantive disagreement about measurement, comparison boundaries or the record conclusion.
Basis: documented substantive disagreement
A documented measurement disagreement exists: Guinness reports a 603 m uninterrupted shaft, whereas a 1997 Slovenian speleological paper and 1996 expedition accounts report a 643 m continuous pitch. The Entry retains 603 m as the registry figure, not a settled measurement; year 0001 on the registry is an invalid placeholder.
No definitive survey reconciliation has been located explaining 603 versus 643 m. Different pitch definitions or survey versions are possible but unproven; neither value is averaged or treated as universally settled.
Slovenian Academy of Sciences / Acta Carsologica
Vrtiglavica, which is a single 643 meters deep shaft.
Abstract, Acta Carsologica vol. 26 no. 2 (1997)
Guinness World Records
an unbroken vertical shaft 603 m
Deepest shaft occurring naturally / main description
Commissione Grotte Eugenio Boegan
Si raggiunge così il fondo a -643 metri
1996 – Vrtiglavica, report of 14 October 1996
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