After a week spent in the claustrophobia of Germany’s deepest cave, caver Johann Westhauser has finally been brought to the surface.<br /><br />He will now be rushed to hospital. The extent of injuries to his chest and head is still unknown.<br /><br />The magnitude of the challenge to bring him to the surface has been applauded by Norbert Heiland of the Bavarian mountain rescue team:<br /><br />“I don’t want to be too over the top but I think one can say that during the last 12 days a new chapter of Alpine rescue has been written here at the Untersberg (mountain)”<br /><br />It it a rescue that has required international know-how from 728 people. Seasoned cavers had to navigate 1,000m into the belly of the cave, a length greater than the Eiffel Tower.<br /><br />It was in this spot the German was found after being injured by falling rocks. Those involved had to haul Westhauser through a tapestry of deep shafts and narrow passages, before a final vertical stretch of around 180m.<br /><br />Johann was one of those who first discovered the giant cave system, back in 1995.
