Ardeche caves

GarDouth

Administrator
Can anyone recommend a good guide book for caves of the Ardeche (that's still in print)? English would be nice but I suspect it's only likely to be in French.
 

ZombieCake

Well-known member
Only one I have is Speleo Sportive en Ardeche by Philippe Drouin and Thierry Marchand by Edisud 1989 I guess it's out of print.  Worth tracking down though, in French but there are pictures.
If you can take a dinghy and abseil off the middle of Pont d'Arc into the Ardeche River into the boat, it's great fun. Unfortunately only pics I have are on unscanned slides so can't post here.
R?seau Rochas Midroi Guigonne, Syst?me Goule-Event Foussoubie, Grotte de Ch?taigniers, are among the ones worth seeing.  There's also one in Pont d'Arc behind a cafe, can't remember the name though.
Fantastic place.
 

moletta

Member
There's also the Chauvet complex plus show caves like Orgnac, Forestiere, St. Marcel

Southampton University went a while back and I think they sold a booklet about the Ardeche caves

 

mikem

Well-known member
Some info on Southampton trip in:
https://www.shepton.org.uk/publications/journals/series-10
 

ZombieCake

Well-known member
Ought to add that I don't know what access permission is these days.  I think most were open , but wouldn't hurt to make sure you have insurance details.  Abseiling into the Ardeche river is quite technical as it's rather deep, hence the boat, and swimming with abseiling gear could be awkward.
 

Leclused

Active member
Not caving but Ardeche related.

The pont d'arc on the river Ardecht was climbed free a while ago. Here is the clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi5RGC-ZAOs

 

GarDouth

Administrator
Does anyone know of a decent online converter for Lambert XYZ coordinates (found in older French guide books) to LatLong? I've spent some time searching Google and found various tools but none of them seem to work. I think the datum is Lambert 3 but I stand to be corrected on that.
 

langcliffe

Well-known member
gardouth said:
Does anyone know of a decent online converter for Lambert XYZ coordinates (found in older French guide books) to LatLong? I've spent some time searching Google and found various tools but none of them seem to work. I think the datum is Lambert 3 but I stand to be corrected on that.

I have no reason to believe that Canary's recommendation is not sound, but as an alternative I have always used this one which works for me (the example URL is for the entrance to Trou du Glaz).

P.S. Ardeche is in Lambert 3 Zone (see Department 7 here).
 

GarDouth

Administrator
Thanks both. I had actually come across both of those converters in my searches however for some reason I didn't get them to work at the time (probably due to lack of sleep!)

I think my mistake was entering the wrong units. By default both of the converters suggested use meters however the number in the guide book is in km. Both seem to work fine when you give it the right info!

I tried with Event de Foussoubie - X-762.960, Y= 230.595, Z=197 (as listed in the book - in km) and it seems to be approximately right but having never been I don't know how accurate it is.

Out of interest, does the Z coordinate make any difference to the position or is it literally an altitude? I've seen some stuff saying it does matter but the converters don't ask for it so it can't be much of an issue.

Thanks for your help.
 

langcliffe

Well-known member
gardouth said:
I tried with Event de Foussoubie - X-762.960, Y= 230.595, Z=197 (as listed in the book - in km) and it seems to be approximately right but having never been I don't know how accurate it is.

I tried your coordinates using the converter I recommended, and located the result onto the 1:2500 with the red flag. It looks pretty good to me.

ardeche.jpg

gardouth said:
Out of interest, does the Z coordinate make any difference to the position or is it literally an altitude? I've seen some stuff saying it does matter but the converters don't ask for it so it can't be much of an issue.

It's just the altitude.
 

GarDouth

Administrator
langcliffe said:
I tried your coordinates using the converter I recommended, and located the result onto the 1:2500 with the red flag. It looks pretty good to me.

Thanks, good to know :)
 

mikem

Well-known member
That's because it's the coordinates for the goule (as named on map), not the event (blowhole), same cave:
http://www.plongeesout.com/sites/raba/ardeche/foussoubie.htm
 

GarDouth

Administrator
Can anyone suggest some "must see" Ardeche caves. Only going for a week so it would be nice to take in the main attractions.

Also, any suggestions of a location for a nice days canoe? Not white water!
 
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