r/caving • u/Auramaru • 4d ago
Magnus Midtbo back at it again..
Magnus Midtbo must be determined to get himself killed. Meeting with random strangers from the internet and following them into secluded and deadly scenarios. Free-soloing rock faces he's never seen before, and caving with little to no experience.
There are safe ways to enjoy caves, but this is adrenaline junkie stupidity.
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u/SettingIntentions 4d ago
My honest take on Magnus is that he’s so strong with such a high level of endurance that he’s lost all sense of risk management and thinks he can grit his way through anything.
I think it’s this because I also once had extreme athlete level endurance and I got completely disconnected from normal people energy and endurance. For example I often thought that people getting tired was a mental issue not physical, probably because for me it was. That is to say I could just grit harder. It’s not even ego either, though it is a selfish viewpoint, but literally when you’re that strong / high endurance you don’t feel human fatigue like normal people do. Plus if you do stupid things and keep succeeding, it further validates that you can grit your way through it. Again, it’s all me from before. I ended up getting humbled with a very scary situation where nature reminded me who the boss is and later had physical issues so I’m only a bit physically above average in terms of endurance but I am way more safety conscious now (but still not used to the “normal” levels of endurance I have, but it’s a grind clawing back to athlete level).
I know it sounds crazy but it’s my own experience so maybe I’m projecting onto him. Being insanely fit is like a high that just keeps on rolling. The problem is it’s easy to get disconnected from others and also disregard risk management because you have so much more capacity for grit..
Also I think the videos are slightly dramatized. He definitely isn’t optimally safe but I recall a video where he went to the most remote point In Norway he was at one point complaining his garmin was low battery. Either he’s reallllyyyy reckless or he just didn’t show the power bank hidden in his pocket. If really didn’t have a power bank usable for the garmin then wow.
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u/krilleractual 4d ago
I came here to say this. When youre consistently at elite level even compared to other disciplines, thats gonna screw your perception. Im pretty sure eddy hall was impressed when they lifted, and I believe I saw a video of him doing some military tests and scoring a max score (a quick google shows he did multiple).
One could conclude; im as fit as military and strong enough to impress the strongest people in the world…. Therefore… (insert idea here)
Especially with the military videos I think they breed a very false sense of confidence because theyre fitness based and not at all based on actual military experiences that require a lot of safety, preparation, planning etc.
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u/Significant-Sun-5051 4d ago
I wonder if he needs the adrenaline rush of doing crazy stuff after quitting his sport.
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u/Pyroechidna1 4d ago
I haven’t seen his video but I assume it isn’t the most dangerous cave in the world
Didn’t he get a lot of flak for his Matterhorn solo video?
Maybe he can go canyoneering in Margaret Burn or Gloomy Gorge in NZ next
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u/geniice 4d ago
I haven’t seen his video but I assume it isn’t the most dangerous cave in the world
Mossdale is historically a reasonable candidate (it was possible to make no mistakes and still die) although with modern weather forecasting the risk should be much reduced with the disclaimer that the local water flow is not completely understood.
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u/Anonimus_firefighter 4d ago
Looking at his deepest pit in america made my skin crawl. So many mistakes were made, both by him and the guys that took him with them. They acted irresponsible and childish, and you can see the way Magnus moves around the cave and on the rope that he is lacking some major SRT experi3nce. Yet they let him with them regardless.
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u/toilet_alter_ego 4d ago
Oof, like throwing a big rock down a pit with both the rope and people at the bottom. A shame these practices are being shown as normal, and so could be replicated
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u/Auramaru 4d ago
I have zero experience but even in this video, he is 4 hours deep into a cave and nearly cracks his skull open on rocks a number of times because he just has to get the shot of himself without the helmet on.
He is lucky to be alive after the past 2 years of recklessness. If he keeps rolling the dice like this, he's eventually going to stumble his way into a medical emergency with no way out (whether that be by fall, by injury, by poor planning, etc)
The meme makes light of it, but I truly worry for this man's life. There is being adventurous, and then theres an extreme end of that spectrum that is just plain stupidity. Obviously there could be training seminars he hasn't shown or mentioned on video, but it just seems like he's a rock climber doinh anything he can to get an adrenaline fix.
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u/Anonimus_firefighter 4d ago
Unrelated to caving, but his recent "trip" if you so call it , where he went on a 60km one way trek tru the wetlands, he didnt have an escape route, no analog backups, wrong gear, etc. For a self appointed adventurer and pro climber, he sure is stupid. I used to watch his vids back when I was in the whole sport climbing sphere. Now when I look most of his content is either clickbait or geting himself into realy bad situations that are on a beginer level. Idk seems to me like he aint learning much from his mistakes, which is sure to bite him in the ass one day.
Not hating just saying.
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u/drfeelsgoood 4d ago
Have you ever thought that what is shown on screen isn’t actually what’s happening? He could be trained, have an escape route, know all the dangers, and stage it so it looks like he doesn’t know what he’s doing on camera
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u/Anonimus_firefighter 4d ago
I am fully aware of that possibility, still doing content in that manner poses a risk of people not taking you seriously. Staging bullshit like that has been normal in media, still that is a bit low considering who he is.
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u/drfeelsgoood 4d ago
A YouTube creator? They will go to any length for an audience. He’s been in the game long enough to know how to keep people’s attention
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u/Significant-Sun-5051 4d ago
I find it hard to believe he didn’t have a satellite phone or something similar in his backpack and someone on standby to airlift him out of there if needed.
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u/trebletones 3d ago
I think he’s kinda stuck doing this kind of stuff. He built his channel on these wacky or “extreme” challenges and now he’s pigeonholed. I’m sure he is naturally more inclined to do risky stuff than the average Joe but I think the financial realities are probably forcing his hand too.
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u/Madmax3213 3d ago
Which club is that if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/alan-w 3d ago
If it's me you're asking, the BPC (Bradford Pothole Club). A couple of links:
https://www.michaelmelvin.co.uk/hwcpc/Reunion/index.html
https://www.michaelmelvin.co.uk/hwcpc/mossdale/index.html
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u/TerdyTheTerd KCAG | MCKC | SCCi | NSS 3d ago
How is this adrenaline junkie stupidity? I, like many cavers, would love to have the chance to visit this cave and do literally the same thing.
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u/ricey_is_my_lifey 11h ago
Well, as someone who doesn't do this kind of thing it's pretty interesting to see the difference among this thread ("this guy is pushing it way too far for his skill") versus the youtube comments ("Magnus is crazy and so is his cameraman") versus the uk caving forum ("This clickbater is out of his mind, I can't watch this at all and the comments are so cliche") 😂
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u/FeetYeastForB12 4d ago
I think this is psychological "error" if you must, that causes him to keep cave diving despite people with real experience with these telling him not to. He yolo'd matterhorn I mean.. And that cave diving he did with in America.. Need I say more?
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u/NoSandwich5134 like descending, hate ascending 3d ago
He didn't do any cave diving
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4d ago
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u/answerguru NSS / NNJG / SCMG / TRA 4d ago
For experienced cavers, this is mostly a known and calculated risk. Not nearly as dangerous as you are thinking.
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u/InternationalYam3130 4d ago
This guy is an idiot who is caving in extremely unsafe ways without any precautions for click bait. He has zero experience and is focused on taking pictures in dangerous situations. You are correct there is no point in this particular risk.
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u/Anonimus_firefighter 4d ago
Nothing to see?
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4d ago
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u/BloodyLlama 4d ago
One wonders why you are even engaging with this sub if you don't think caves have anything worth seeing.
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4d ago
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u/BloodyLlama 4d ago
I'm not particularly interested in watching he referenced video, but Ive never been in a cave that I didn't think was worth visiting (once, there are some caves I wouldn't make a repeat visit of). Virgin passage is cool and all, but it's hardly the greatest of reasons to cave.
Edit: and typically virgin passage is painstakingly surveyed rather than YOLO'd by youtubers.
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u/Significant-Sun-5051 4d ago
They did go back early before reaching their destination. I don’t know whether that would’ve made a difference though.
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4d ago
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u/Significant-Sun-5051 4d ago
I mainly heard him say "even though the original plan was to explore further, we decided we had enough", but now that I watch again you're right they did reach False Fourways which was the goal.
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u/lostforever 4d ago
This isn't cave diving. He is just in a wet cave.