Sistema Badalona Pull Through

[Broken Chris]

Hi,

Has anyone done the Sistema Badalona pull through in Spain? I've seen the Speleo Avalon website gallery which makes it look great and am keen on finding out whether anyone knows a bit more about it. The usual stuff e.g. location, access restrictions, surveys, funny stories, horror stories, how it reacts in the wet etc. would all be welcome.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[dl]

I made enquiries two years ago and was told, very firmly, by a park warden that if we went near the cave we would be arrested and escorted to jail. 

Don't know if things have got better.......

 

[JJ]

Did it may years ago (about 20) a tremendous trip, although you need to be careful about flooding towards the bottom end. Even when we did it access was tricky, we had caving permision but not park permission I think, did not realise the difference till after we had done it. I have heard of folk being turned away at gunpoint and threats of being locked up. Still one of the better trips I have done.

On our trip all of the cave was completely rigged with tat, although we took pull through ropes. Even met a Frenchman soloing up through the cave! Brave soul given the condition of the tat.

There are also some great gorges in the area, but I believe access to these is now problematic too.

 

[Broken Chris]

Hmmm, think I'll not be getting out my inflatable parrot, wooden leg and eye patch then (not that I would anyway of course!) Being jailed and shot in a foreign country isn't high on my list of things to achieve.

Shame though - I wonder why it's so strictly out of bounds. Is it full of pretties?

As a bit of a generalisation, I don't get the impression that Spanish national parks are particularly welcoming. My wife had an angry park warden shouting at her on several occasions when she was out mapping part of it for her Geology dissertation. I don't think he was impressed that she actually wanted to wander around the park and draw it. :-\