Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems. In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment.
Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). The term speleology is also sometimes applied to the recreational activity of exploring caves, but this is more properly known as caving, potholing, or spelunking. Speleology and caving are often connected, as the physical skills required for in situ study are the same.
Sport in Pakistan is a significant part of Pakistani culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, while field hockey, polo, and squash are also popular. Traditional sports like kabaddi and other well-known games are also played. The Pakistan Sports Board was created in 1962 by the Ministry of Education as a corporate body for the purposes of promoting and developing uniform standards of competition in sports in Pakistan comparable to the standards prevailing internationally, and regulating and controlling sports in Pakistan on a national basis. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, now has control over the Pakistan Sports Board. The PSB controls all 39 sporting federations. The Pakistan Sports Board is supported by the Pakistan Sports Trust, which assists hard up players and associations so they can continue participating in sports.
Hanna Lake is a lake in Urak Valley near Quetta city in Balochistan Province, in southwestern Pakistan. It is surrounded by mountains.
Ashraf Aman is a Pakistani mountaineer, adventurer, and engineer. In 1977, he became the first Pakistani to reach the summit of K2. He operates the travel and tourism-based company "Adventure Tours Pakistan". He is also vice-President of the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
The British Cave Research Association (BCRA) is a speleological organisation in the United Kingdom. Its object is to promote the study of caves and associated phenomena, and it attains this by supporting cave and karst research, encouraging original exploration, collecting and publishing speleological information, maintaining a library and organising educational and scientific conferences and meetings.
There are a number of caving organizations throughout the world.
Recreational caving in the United Kingdom dates back to the mid nineteenth century. The four major caving areas of the United Kingdom are North Yorkshire, South Wales, Derbyshire, and the Mendips. Minor areas include Devon, North Wales, and Grampian.
Hayatullah Khan Durrani, PP is a Pakistani caver, mountaineer, environmentalist, organizer, and a rescuer. He is also a part-time sports anchor actor on Pakistani television. He played a significant role in the promotion of mountaineering, rock climbing, caving, canoeing, and, kayaking as adventure sports in Pakistan. He is naturalist and early advocate of preservation of Juniper forests Juniperus macropoda wilderness in Ziarat and adjacent areas in Balochistan. He is the founder and President of the Pakistan Cave Research & Caving Federation (PCRCF) and the Director of the Asian Canoe Confederation (ACC).
Shahzada Rehmatullah Khan Durrani was a Pakistan Movement activist born on 10 October 1919 in the Sadozai dynasty of Durrani, the ethnic Pashtun Sadozai tribe, section of the Popalzai sub clan of Durrani Abdali Pashtun tribe in British India, Quetta.
The French Federation of Speleology, is a French organisation that represents all persons practicing or studying caving and canyoning and promotes the study and conservation of caves.
Spéléo Club du Liban was formed in 1951. It is considered one of the oldest caving associations in the Middle East.
Chiltan Adventurers Association Balochistan is a non-profit government adventure sports association in Balochistan, Pakistan. It consists of young boys and girls dedicated to the promotion of mountain adventure, sports climbing and associated sports. Its goals are to protect the new generation from dangerous drug abuse, by providing them with healthy sporting opportunities, organizing training camps, and national and provincial level event expeditions. 95% of all the players receiving training from CAAB are students of schools and colleges in Balochistan. The activities of the CAAB are financed by self-help, donations, and subscriptions of members and annual grant-in-aid from Balochistan Sports Control Board (BSCB) Quetta.
International Union of Speleology is a non-profit, non-governmental organization to promote interaction between academic and technical speleologists from a wide range of nationalities for the purpose of developing and coordinating international speleology in all of its scientific, technical, cultural and economic aspects.
Mohammad Abubakar Durrani is a Pakistani canoeist and documentary/ short film maker, cameraman, cave photographer and owner of the Abdali Productions.
Rahila Hameed Khan Durrani is a Pakistani lawyer and politician. She was elected as the first ever female Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan on 24 December 2015. Ms. Durrani is an exceptional humanitarian, a visionary philanthropist and a legendary voice raiser for women rights in Balochistan. She has served as the first member of National Commission on Status of Women (1999) and has worked a lot for the cause of women. She is a journalist, social activist, lawyer, sports woman. She was awarded Tamgha-i-Imtiaz. (TI) by the Government of Pakistan.
Durrani or Abdali is the name of a chief Sarbani Pashtun tribal confederation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, It is also a surname found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Notable people with the surname include:
Jurij Mihajlovič Kasjan is a Ukrainian speleologist, most known for his work in cave exploration, especially as the Call of the Abyss research project coordinator. He was heading the speleological expeditions to caves of the Arabika massif in Abkhazia and, with Aleksandr Klimčuk, to Aladaglar massif in Turkey. Some of the world's deepest caves were explored, including the first cave, deeper than 2,000 m, the Krubera-Voronja Cave.
