II Gathering of Explorers  - summary

The II National Gathering of Explorers - Walim 2009 took place between the 25 and 27 of September  2009 and was organized by the Sowie Mountains Research Group (SGP) and Centrum Kultury i Turystyki w Walimiu (The Centre for Culture and Tourism in Walim). We had both good weather and a large number of participants, which resulted in a great atmosphere of the event.
The registration started ad 4.15pm. Everyone who confirmed their participation in the Gathering got a set of gadgets.
After the registration and a fireworks show, the participants could join the integration party, held at the "Hubert" inn in Walim.
At 10 am on Saturday the II National Gathering of Explorers was officialy opened. The president of CKiT, Wiesław Zalas, was the first to give a speech. After a brief opening he asked the vice-mayor of Walim - Krzysztof Łuczak - to say a few words. Next, all of the participants were greeted by the organizers - President of SGP, Piotr Kałuża, and Vice-president Dariusz Tomalkiewicz.
Later the participants were divided into three groups and assigned to various works, described below. About 2 pm there  was a lunch break, followed by more hard work. At 5pm we have finished exploring and the participants took off to the CKiT in Walim, where we organized a conference with a number of researchers, familiar with the subject of "Riese" and a draw of prizes, sponsored by Talkomp and our guests from the Czech Republic. The evening started with a party at "Hubert", where the participants stayed long into the night.
We started the next day (Sunday, September 27) with a trip to Grodno Castle, where the participants could explore chambers not shown to regular tourists.  Then, whoever wanted, returned to the Rzeczka Complex, where we worked until late afternoon.
Research and works during the Gathering
We have used a GPR to determine the exact location and run of the maintenance tunnel under the bridge. The echogram indicated, that the tunnel goes towards Ostra mountain, but it has been impossible to establish it's further run. A pit has been dug to find the tunnel past the collapsed part. Further works will be done in the next weeks.
The digging of the collapsed part of tunnel III was also continued. The goal was to reach the floor and determine if the railway track from tunnel II goes through to tunnel III (which was suggested by earlier radio detector tests).
We have also made a series of tests using a GPR and detectors in search of chests hidden near the palace in Jedlinka (as the diary of the last owner suggested) and a tunnel, running along the palace walls. The results confirmed its' presence, but it has probably been used as a draining tunnel.
The chests were not found, despite their approximate location was known, for a simple reason. The whole area has been used as a dump by the inhabitants of a nearby annex. Due to that fact, all of the detectors gave false results.
We would like to thank all of the participants of the II National Gathering of Explorers for attending, helping us in the exploration works and creating a truly great atmosphere.

We would also like to thank our sponsors:

Talcomp - security systems
PGNiG SA in Warsaw
"Corpus" Security
Marcco
Bamar
Talcomp

The media:

Odkrywca
Inne Oblicza Historii
Gazeta Wrocławska

And the authorities of Walim:

Mayor Adam Hausmann
Vice-mayor Krzysztof Łuczak

We would like to especially thank Mr. Jerzy Cera for sponsoring the prizes for the participants.