French cave rescue (November 1999)
The Vercours is a limestone upland in France, approximately bounded by Grenoble in the northeast, Die in the south, and Valence in the west. The river Isere runs along the top and down the western side, the Drac flows north along the eastern edge in the shadow of a 50 km long cliff, whilst the Drome flows along the southern boundary. It is a region of spectacular rocky crags and deep gorges. The average altitude is 1300 m. The highest point, le Grand Veymont, is 2341 m (over 7700 ft). To cavers the area is most famous as the location of the first cave to exceed a depth of 1000 m, the Gouffre Berger, but it has much more to offer; a fabulous river cave in Grotte de Gournier, the extensive Trou qui Soufle - Saints de Glace system (through trip possible), and big pitches (such as the 205 m "le Goudurix" in Antre des Damnes and the even bigger 303 m pitch in Scialet du Pot 2 - the deepest shaft in the Vercours). And if you can't bear the thought of going underground in glorious Summer weather, try your hand at canyoning. The Vercours caters for all standards; highly recommended are the gorge of the river Drevenne, a descent called les Ecouges, and la cascade de Moulin Marquis in the Bourne gorge (imagine five times Malham Cove with a waterfall !).
The most up-to-date guide to this area is Speleo dans le
Vercors by Caillault, Haffner & Krattinger and published
by Edisud (ISBN 2-85744-897-X) in 1997. Price is about FFr90.
This supersedes, but appears not to completely replace, a book of
the same name published in the late '80's and which was written
by one of the present authors. Whilst the two books detail
roughly similar numbers of caves (33 in the more recent
publication) the new book does not contain some of the caves in
the old book, and vice versa. However, since the new book is
subtitled "Volume 1" it would appear that it is to be
the start of a much more comprehensive set of guides (Update:
Volume 2 was published in 1999). Both books are in French.
There is also an English language guide by Des Marshall called Vercours
Caves, Classic French Caving Vol 1 and published by Cordee
(ISBN 1-871890-71-3) which distills the descriptions and topos of
some of the more notable caves.
For canyon topos, seek out Canyons du Vercours et alentours
by Botti, Larribe, Launay & Rosset of the Club Speleo MJC
Tullins and published by Editions GAP in 1997 at a price of about
FFr160 (ISBN 2-7417-0211-X). This book is worth getting just for
the colour photographs!
A word of caution - the authors experience of the caving guides
is that they do contain errors (in at least one instance the grid
reference of a cave - marked on a 1:25000 map - placed it in the
wrong grid square!). The French guides also have a tendency to be
"economical with the truth" as regards passage
descriptions (see Scialet des Meyniers or Glaciere de Carri
below!).
Do not underestimate the logistical requirements of some of the
caves. In Summer some of the more remote caves will entail round
trip walks of four to six hours in temperatures of 30C+ with full
rucksacks. Apparently, cavers arriving without sherpas have been
known to hire donkeys! Carrying and/or finding enough water can
be a real problem.
The ONLY maps of the area worth having are the French IGN TOP25
1:25000 scale maps. These are relatively easy to come by in the
Vercours, otherwise try Travellers World
Bookshop. Maps 3235OT (Autrans), 3236OT (Villard-de-Lans) and
3136ET (Combe Laval) will cover the areas served by the guides
mentioned above. (Update: Summer 2000, these maps are now GPS
compatible).
Click here for a glossary of French
caving terms.
This is a personal appreciation of some of the caves:
Grotte de Bournillion - A massive entrance portal
leading to a long phreatic tunnel which can issue 80 cumecs in
flood! It is possible to do the first 500 m in tee-shirt and
shorts! Beyond a seasonal sump are some very large chambers. The
walk to/from the cave passes by the foot of what must surely rank
as one of the most stunning abseils in Europe, le Cascade de
Molin Marquis (380 m in 11 moss-covered, and usually wet,
pitches).
Grotte Favot - A pentagonal 5 m diameter descending
phreatic tube some 80 m long which leads to some large chambers.
Only an hours worth of caving but well worth seeing. In
July/August the sun shines straight down the tunnel at about 6 -
7 pm. However, the walk to the cave is a SERIOUS scramble up a
steep hillside.
Grotte de Gournier - A truly magnificent river cave
in the same location as the world famous Choranche show caves. A
large diameter dry upper fossil gallery with massive stal
"beehives" is paralleled by a lower active streamway.
The water is blue, crystal-clear and icy cold! The streamway
ascends a number of cascades (with wire traverse lines) and deep
pools. Wetsuits are essential. Oh, don't forget to take a boat -
the entrance to the cave is a 30 m wide underground lake!
Glaciere d'Autrans - A deep, sheer-sided,
depression in a forest houses two entrances; the Glaciere and the
Tapinoir. The bottom of the depression retains snow/ice even in
high Summer making the approach to the entrances potentially
dangerous. The Tapinoir entrance pitch has to be rigged from the
lip of a mini glacier! As the ice melts, the belay points move
out of reach, calling for some "interesting" improvised
rigging! The 3rd pitch in the Tapinoir is a superb 41 m free-hang
in a large fluted shaft (like Hurnell Moss but better). The thin
and wiry can exchange between the Tapinoir and the Glaciere. Next
to the Tapinoir entrance is another cave, the Patinoire. This
contains a frozen lake.
Scialet de Malaterre - A large open pothole in a
forest giving a 120 m descent in two main pitches. You abseil
from a footbridge across the shaft! Whilst this guarantees
instant fame (you appear in every walkers set of holiday snaps)
it is a wise idea to leave at least one person "up top"
(your agent?) in order to deter the stone-droppers...
Scialet des Meyniers - The topo for this cave, and
a description that runs to a mere seven lines (the overview also
includes the words "petite balade de 2 a 3 heures...")
give the impression that this is a straightforward pothole with
pitches of 40, 9, 25 and 50 m. It isn't! The entrance shaft
promises much, but the CONNECTIONS between all the subsequent
pitch heads are QUITE AWKWARD and the "larger caver"
will have problems with them! There is no mention of these
obstacles in the description. Spits were also poorly placed or
poorly installed. So far as it was possible to tell, there were
no spits for the 4th pitch! The resulting rope rub was slightly
offset by the fact that this pitch was down a wall of moonmilk...
All in all, a rather nasty place that will undoubtedly appeal to
the Quaking Pot brigade; if that's not you, there are far better
places to go!
Traversee Trou qui Souffle - Saints de Glace -
Local wisdom is that you do this exchange trip FROM Trou qui
Souffle TO Saints de Glace, otherwise you have to ascend a long,
inclined and very muddy canyon which turns your trip from
"sporting" into "epic"!
Glaciere de Carri - A bit out of the way but
nonetheless a worthwhile trip. The guidebooks describe this as a
good place for the inexperienced to practice their rigging and
that's a fair description. Nothing too daunting, pretty dry, and
with two nice 100'+ pitches. Two words of caution are however
necessary. First, this is a COLD cave (even in the height of
Summer). You certainly won't want them on the walk in, but take
your thermal underwear and gloves! Second, the big pitches are
separated by a particularly nasty section of vertical
constrictions (most people stop at the bottom of the P33 or
subsequent P14 pitch!). Finding the cave is a little tricky, even
though it really is only 20 minutes from the car park. Finding
the initial path and the Scialet de Carri is quite
straightforward, it's the bit after that causes the problem!
Essentially, just try and keep going ahead and up, rather than
being tempted onto the logging tracks. Alternatively, if you have
access to a GPS receiver, I determined the entrance to be
(Lambert grid) X:838.70, Y:3298.21 which is slightly different to
that quoted in the guidebooks.
Grotte des Deux Soeurs - This is the lowest, and
therefore arguably the most straightforward to access, entrance
to the massive Clot d'Aspres system in the Rochers Des Jaux
escarpment south of Villard-de-Lans. Even so, you're looking at a
2 hour uphill hike gaining over 500 m in altitude just to reach
it. But persevere, the views are tremendous! There are two other
factors worth bearing in mind; first, being "in the
wall" of the escarpment your walk up will be in sun from
first light, and second, just getting to the car park is going to
take an hour or more from most places up on the Vercour plateau
(because you have to come down and pick up the Grenoble-Die
road). The cave itself is marked on the IGN maps and is a doddle
to find. It emits a freezing cold gale in Summer! The entrance
series contains some very attractive fossil stal. However, and
here's the crunch, what the guidebooks don't tell you is that
about 200 m in, shortly after the P6 pitch, is a particularly
awkward squeeze (imagine standing upright and then being bent -
sideways - through a right angle). The draught here is akin to
being in a wind tunnel, and its COLD! This is a trip for
pidgeon-breasted cavers of modest stature!
Gour Fumant / Faux Gour - Located close to the road
on the scenic route from St Martin-en-Vercours to Villard-de-Lans
on the edge of the Herbouilly Pasture, this is a very enjoyable
trip with a bit of everything; pitches, tight canyon and at the
bottom a streamway to get your feet wet in! Bodies and tackle
permitting, consider rigging both entrances for a worthwhile
exchange trip on the way out. The Gour entrance (the
southernmost) is suitable for less-experienced riggers to
practise their art in. The Faux entrance is slightly more
technical. (NB: The rope for the "doline d'entree" on
the Faux entrance starts at the entrance itself and not
at the start of the slippery path down!).
Scialet du Trisou - Not too far from Gour Fumant
but even closer to the road! This is a sporting SRT trip with
several modest pitches and high-level rift traverses (some
slippery enough to warrant ropes, others quite cramped) leading
to the 56 m Puits de la Douche (and more after that). However,
read the topo carefully. We didn't, failed to pack a rope for one
of the traverses, and as a consequence couldn't descend the P56.
A good trip.
Scialet A6 / Scialet A7- Located amongst the lapiaz
of the Sornin Plateau 15 mins walk from the Gouffre Berger. The
grid reference for A6 in the guidebook is hopelessly wrong. I
determined the entrance to be (Lambert grid) X:856.51, Y:3329.24.
The other thing to note is that although the A7 entrance connects
with the bottom of the A6 entrance shaft, you would be seriously
mad to attempt entry via A7; the passage is hideous. The
guidebook describes this as "a pleasant vertical cave"
and says that the 120 m meander below the 3rd pitch
"presents few problems". Well, the head of the 2nd
pitch is one of the most awkward I've ever come across (even
though the pitch itself is fine) and those that descended the 3rd
pitch eventually turned back because the meander became so
constricted that lugging tackle sacks was a huge effort. In
summary, a long walk for nothing. Go visit the entrance and the
Berger by all means, but leave your kit in the car!
Scialet du Satyre - I couldn't find it!
Last updated: 22-August-2001 by Steve King, s.m.king@rl.ac.uk