Mine diving in Bergslagen

• Access: in Swedish mines you dive only via the owner or a club with an access agreement. Book Äventyrsgruvan (Tuna Hästberg) on diving.adventuremine.se; Långban (Långbans Dyksällskap, with Värmlands Museum) and Sala (Sala Silvergruva Dykarklubb) go through membership on gruvdyk.se, which also shows the dive-day calendar. Upload your certificates in advance; approval at Äventyrsgruvan takes up to 48 h. • Rules at Äventyrsgruvan (strict; breaking them can mean a permanent ban): no solo diving, max 120 min per dive, trimix and approval deeper than -40 m, max END 30 m, remove or touch nothing, change lines only with approval, share computer logs on request, report incidents. • Cold: water 4–5 °C (Tuna Hästberg), ~6 °C (Långban) and 2–3 °C (Sala); the air in the mines is also ~4–5 °C. Drysuit with thick or heated undergarments and dry gloves, two lights; helmet mandatory in Äventyrsgruvan, which is dived year-round. • Gas: Äventyrsgruvan fills air, nitrox, trimix, O₂ and argon on event days (you analyse yourself); Långban has a compressor with an O₂ and helium bank for members. No dive shop with trimix found in Borlänge, Ludvika or Filipstad — ask. • General mine-diving caution: expect loose rock, old metal, cables and pipes (entanglement), rust and silt, and vertical shafts; never breathe the air in an air pocket. • Emergency: call 112 and report a 'dykolycka' (diving accident); SOS Alarm directs you to an available chamber. Give 100 % O₂. Nearest: Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Tryckkammare HBO, Eugeniavägen 3, Solna — direct +46 8 123 946 80 / 81, switchboard +46 8 123 700 00; divers from Tuna Hästberg were treated there (2011, 2012). Other civilian chambers: Sahlgrenska/Östra, Gothenburg (+46 31 342 10 00) and Blekingesjukhuset, Karlskrona (+46 455 73 10 00). DAN Europe +39 06 4211 5685. • Caves: cave diving in Sweden is expedition or research work and is not part of this region. In the Bjurälven nature reserve (Strömsund, Jämtland) diving in the flooded cave system is banned without a permit from Länsstyrelsen Jämtland; the diving section of the speleological federation SSF ran expeditions there around Easter 2007 and in 2008 (snowmobiles, through the ice, ~0 °C water, tight and sandy passages). Korallgrottan (Jämtland) is open to the public only with a guide. Lummelunda (Gotland) is a show cave; divers found ~400 m of new passage beyond four sumps in 1985. • Location: Tuna Hästberg is ~25 km S of Borlänge and ~25 km N of Ludvika; Sala ~90 km straight line E of Borlänge; Långban ~21 km N of Filipstad (~2 h drive from Borlänge, estimate; ~4 h from Gothenburg or Stockholm). • Rest day: dry adventure tours in Äventyrsgruvan (via ferrata, suspension bridge, underground concert hall), tours of Sala silvergruva (e.g. to 60 m depth) and the mining village of Långban.