E
ecowaller
Guest
Hi, Does anyone have any info on this great system? My wife and I intend to do one of the classic longer through trips this summer...any useful info would be great...How is the p40 entrance?
ian mckenzie said:I did a DDC pulldown seventeen years ago (with some of our forum participants) and we didn't even have a survey... just a schematic, which was probably of more use. We did a recce thru Trou du Glaz entrance first, to confirm that the 'up' pitch was rigged. The P40 entrance series is fun, but can be quite wet (we got pounded at the base of Salle de Douche), and you have to watch out for Puits Trois Soeurs which you have to exit before reaching the bottom - very important if you're pulling down - there used to be a card with a green arrow on it on a ledge to help. The rest of the cave is pretty straightforward, but watch the weather - a low bit in the Guiers Mort exit can sump, but there's another exit up in the ceiling that was rigged when we were there.
Also there is a very nice side-to-side option, Trou du Glaz to Grotte Annette. Some protected traverses required, and a bit slippery in places (Puits Banane is well named), and it's a spectacular exit at night with the lights of the villages below you.
And you can retrace part of the historic Chevalier route from bottom to top following the stream, as far as the base of Puits Balcone without kit. Makes you appreciate that Chevalier and co. missed all of the big easy stuff.
wildsurf said:We're off to the Dent De Crolles a week today. Any advice, English route descriptions etc.. gratefully received.