In this picture provided by Bavarian Red Cross/Berchtesgaden and taken Sunday June 8, 2014 a rescuer enters a cave near Berchtesgaden, Germany.
Germany's mountain rescue service says an injured researcher stuck deep inside an Alpine cave on the Austrian border is able to walk with help, but an operation to bring him out may still take several days.
The rescue service said Tuesday that a six-member team of experts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland is now with the patient, who is conscious.
The 52-year-old German was hit by falling rocks early Sunday in the Riesending cave system near Berchtesgaden.
The accident happened some 6,000 meters from the entrance. Access to the site nearly 1,000 meters underground requires covering tricky terrain such as vertical shafts and squeezing through narrow passages.
The rescue service has set up a radio-based communication system that allows rescuers to send text messages to the surface.