If one is already fed up with election stress, going caving is a good idea – down there, no campaign messages will catch up with you. Perhaps similar reasons led that group of friends toward the quiet underground world when they set off for an underground adventure tour in the Mátyás-hegy Cave on Friday afternoon.

At 13:55, one member of the group made a wrong move while squeezing through a narrow passage in the Toldy-branch; the sudden exertion at an awkward angle resulted in a shoulder injury. The cave guide immediately recognized that the 56-year-old man would not be able to leave the cave on his own. He began protecting the casulty against hypothermia and alerted the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service.

Within an hour of the alert, we were on site, by the injured person. Our cave rescue doctor examined the man and, apart from the shoulder injury, found his vital signs to be stable. After immobilizing the injured limb and relieving his pain, we began transporting him to the surface in a specialized cave rescue stretcher.

This year the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service (BMSz) celebrates the 65th anniversary of its founding. We, the currently active cave rescuers – just like the generations before us – work to make caving and cave exploration safer for our community.

Over the course of our operation, we have carried out nearly 600 rescue missions in which cavers, hikers, or paragliders got into trouble in locations so difficult to access that other rescue organizations would hardly have been able to provide effective assistance. Beyond rescue operations, members of the cave rescue services have played a major role in raising the standard of caving training in Hungary to an international level, thereby helping to prevent cave accidents.

Our work focuses on members of the caving and outdoor community, whom we unfortunately meet most often when something has gone wrong. Opportunities to meet at events or demonstrations and to show something of our work are rare.

Earlier this week, our seven-member instructor team returned to Budapest after spending almost two weeks in China delivering a cave rescue training course.

The Grimp Day is a rope rescue competition specifically designed for firefighters. Our connection to this field comes from many years of involvement in training Hungarian firefighters engaged in alpine rescue, and we also count several firefighter supporters among our members. It was at one of these international competitions that the idea emerged to expand our organizational connections beyond cavers from neighboring countries and to establish relations with China—its cavers, cave rescuers, and firefighters as well.

After a long coordination process, this spring we had the opportunity to host five Chinese cavers in Budapest during the basic training course for our newly admitted  members of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service (BMSz). Following our four-day course, we assured our Chinese friends that despite language barriers they would be welcome at any of our trainings, workshops and exercises.

Dear Hungarian Cave Rescue Service,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks for the superhuman work you carried out during the rescue following the accident at Vadálló-kövek on October 31, 2025.

In today’s world, the humanity and compassion with which you treated my mother throughout the entire process truly deserve special recognition. You also took care of us (my husband, our dog, and me), making sure that we got back to the car safely. Moments like this restore my faith in people. This positive experience (of course not the accident itself, but the way the situation was handled) showed that selflessness and willingness to help still exist, for which I am eternally grateful.

My mother has already undergone surgery, received a cast for eight weeks, and is recovering at our home. She asked me to be sure to pass on her thanks as well.

Once again, thank you, thank you all:
Z Fruzsina,
Z Lászlóné (my mother),
K Gergő (my husband),
Drazsé (our hiking dachshund).

(The article about the rescue is available by clicking HERE.)

A few weeks ago, during our autumn training at the Vadálló-kövek, we set up several fixed anchor points that could make stretcher transport smoother and safer during real rescues on difficult terrain. Today, we got to test the system in a real situation.

Our 24/7 emergency hotline received a call at 13:26. After the alert, we located the exact site of the accident — almost at the same place where, last summer, we rescued another hiker. Following the alert, the rescue network was set in motion: 24 cave rescuers headed to the site, while simultaneously, the Budaörs HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) helicopter also took off.

The on-duty chief physician of the Hungarian National Ambulance Service (HNAS - OMSZ) — who happens to be a caver himself and a doctor of the Cave Rescue Service — was familiar with the area and the operational procedures of all three organizations.

“Attention! Difficult-to-navigate section of trail secured with chains.” For decades, this is how the editors of tourist maps noted the risks posed by the Rám Gorge. As a result of the 2005 renovation, the rusty chains and ladders were removed from the wild, romantic ravine, and new rest benches, genuinely usable steps, stainless-steel ladders, and handrails were installed at the exposed, truly difficult sections. Over time, the warning signs have also softened: today they mainly indicate the recommended direction of travel, warn of the danger of falling rocks, and advise wearing footwear suitable for the terrain.

Nagytuskó, Széles-Torony, Bunkó, Függő-kő, Felkiáltójel, Árpád trónja — collectively known as the Vadálló Stones—are also popular hiking destinations in the region. On fog- and cloud-free days throughout the year, hikers can enjoy the magnificent panorama, and in spring we can delight in the uniquely beautiful, flowering rocky grasslands on the mountainsides.