Inspired by Cap n' Chris's write up, here's mine (split into two parts because it's apparently too long otherwise). By the way, there's a medal for anyone who makes it to the end! ...
Vercors 2008 - Part I
After the pre-requisite long drive through the night, we all arrived somewhat the worse for wear sometime on Saturday afternoon ? all, that is, except Andy?s party who took the more gentle option of an overnight stop near Reims.
What we all wanted on arrival was a cup of tea or coffee, but unfortunately this necessitated a trip to the supermarket first. We were soon dispatched and, together with a very excited Jennie who couldn?t believe that we could possibly be buying so much, succeeded in filling to large trolleys. Jennie was yet more astounded when we kept assuring her that everything would be gone in two days and another shop would almost certainly be needed.
Coffee, showers and an armchair later and we were able to think about the next day. As always something very gentle is the order of the day as a combination of tiredness, completely disorganised kit and one immense faff means that we take literally all day to do a two-hour trip. Predictably the sleep-deprived discussions didn?t come to much and they quickly degenerated into some of the party debating the whys and wherefores of Health & Safety while the more sensible ones sheltered in their beds with heads buried under pillows.
Sunday, 17th August - Scialet Joufflus
The next morning, after the arguing ones had kissed and made up, and the rest of us had nursed our headaches, we set off for the Scialet Joufflus and the Scialet de la F?e Anglaise, both fulfilling all the requirements admirably ? short, easy, next to the car and not far from the g?te. Uncharacteristically for us, we went straight to the entrances, nobody had forgotten any gear and everyone seemed enthusiastic! Unfortunately the plan of two parties rigging the caves and then swapping afterwards soon disappeared, as some French cavers had beaten us to the F?e Anglaise, so we all got cosy in the Joufflus instead.
I rigged down, making lots of positive noises about how attractive the pitches were as I went. Jennie, on her third SRT trip, was ably looked after by the rest of the party and, it being our first day, we turned around as soon as it looked as if we might have to actually touch rock! The highlight here was definitely Sam?s new light (henceforth to be known as ?The Sun?) illuminating every inch of a genuinely very attractive 25m pitch. Jennie did an excellent job prusiking out and we emerged to a sunny, but fairly cool Vercors afternoon a couple of hours after going in. Excuses soon flowed for not bothering with the F?e Anglaise and we were soon back at the g?te. A very pleasant first day.
Party: Fiona, Robin and Damian Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford, Jennie Lawrence
Time: 2hrs
Monday, 18th August ? Grotte Inf?rieure de Bury
9 years ago I went to this cave and cave away overwhelmed by its brilliance and a bit frustrated that we hadn?t made it to the bottom. Ever since then I?ve thought about the Bury and longed to return and now was my big chance. Extremely uncharacteristically Skeggy had done a brilliant job of packing all the ropes the night before and an enthusiastic team set off for the carpark. A bit of a search around for the entrance (in future, walk to the Source of the Bury then walk uphill for about 150 yards) and we were son sitting down underground cooling off and escaping flies.
Everything that I had remembered was still there ? a superb stream with a beautiful white floor that dropped downwards with a few short pitches and lots of short climbs. Wonderful (and similar for me, but better, than the Trou Mille in the Henne Morte system) For added entertainment, and to make sure there?s a bit of effort involved, there?s also a crawl with a pool of cold water in the middle that leads to a tight (30cm) pitch. After that is a wet section requiring some interesting traversing to avoid a soaking and then comes the best section of streamway yet ? loads of little climbs, really nice stal and a few entertaining climbs up and over blockages for added value.
We?d been going for a couple of hours when, at around -175m, I came to the 18m Puits de l?Escarpolette. After using the 3 obvious (and good) spits I then tried every height possible to find something else to rig off ? and failed. It was obvious to me where the spits needed to go as there was a vast quantity of carbide soot about 5m further out over the pitch and a good 4 metres above my existing spits. I don?t like rising traverses at the best of times but this one, with almost no protection even when I got there, was way beyond anything I was willing to do. A glance at the guidebook rigging info suggested that there was meant to be a fixed handline here and this made me feel a little less inadequate, as I?m not a fan of failing to rig pitches. I had a look at going straight down off the spits I had, botching something with a few naturals on the way, but there was nothing that I was willing to do. We, therefore, turned around very reluctantly only half-way down a fabulous cave. Very frustrating but a superb trip nonetheless.
A quick look in Des Marshall?s book afterwards showed that his rigging suggestion involved going straight down off the 3 spits I had found and ignoring all the rub and water in the process ? not my idea of fun!! Much go back with either a bolting kit or an indestructible rope and a hood!
Party: Damian & Fiona Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford, Andy Clark
Time: 6hrs (incl. 1 hr of faffing at the pitch!)
Wednesday, 20th August ? Scialet de la F?e Anglaise
With reasons not to do pretty much every cave in my list, we finally settled on the Scialet de la F?e Anglais with Scialet Joufflus as rigging practice for Skeggy, also giving Andy a chance to visit this gem. This would then give Jennie some more SRT practice and the rest of us a gentle, lazy day!
I rigged down and we had an uneventful, but pleasant trip to the bottom, where we took it in turns to hang on the rope and look at the deep and clear lake before turning around. Once again, ?The Sun? proved amazing here, easily piercing at least 15m down into the lake.
Jennie successfully negotiated her way past numerous rebelays and 3 20m pitches. She?s on her way to being really good at SRT!
Party A: Damian & Robin Weare, Sam Clifford, Jennie Lawrence
Party B: Fiona Weare, Mike Skegg, Andy Clark
Time: about 2 hrs
Thursday, 21st August ? Le Tapinoir
The guide book described everything in this entrance as ?magnifique?, so I was very interested in going. I remembered that on a previous visit I hadn?t been very impressed and we?d had a long walk involving lots of blundering around looking for the entrance. However, I also thought that that had been to the alternative Glaci?re entrance and remembered that the other party on that occasion walked straight to the cave.
We?d popped over on a quick recee the previous evening to check that we could find the entrance and, more importantly, that there was still enough ice left in the entrance for us to reach the spits to rig. We found the entrance no problem and ascertained that, although there was almost no ice, Sam was tall enough to reach a set of spits and we could probably then botch a deviation that would get us down the entrance pitch safely.
As a result of this recee, we went straight to the cave and the walk is actually quite a gentle one and signposted! Unfortunately, while carrying Fiona?s rucksack down the large entrance doline, I slipped on a rocj and bashed my thumb. The ice in the entrance soon managed to reduce the swelling, though, and I was soon able to wield a spanner and load my descender. A hihgly botched deviation on the entrance pitch got us, via a squeeze, to the head of the P59. After initially going the wrong way and then re-rigging the ?correct? way, we touched down in a large chamber that reminder me of the Marble Steps Main Chamber. This led almost immediately to a knee-knocking P41 ? a perfect free-hang that got bigger and bigger the further you went down ? superb and probably the most impressive dry pitch I have every descended.
A pleasant, but slightly thrutchy meander then led to another nice P28. As it had a bit of water going down it, it was almost like a Dales? pitch. A bit of passage, a climb up and a wriggle back down led to some dodgy spits (the first of the week!) and an improvised rebelay saw us at the bottom. Nothing for it but to turn around a head out, noticing as we went the obvious pair of good spits 1m from my botched rebelay!! A depth record for Sam at something over 200m.
Party: Fiona & Damian Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford
Time: 4hrs
Friday, 22nd August ? Grotte du Berger & Sciallet Michellier
Now we?ve all heard of the Berger, but the Grotte du Berger is somewhat smaller than its namesake. Intended for Susanne, who was a novice visiting from Germany, in the event only Skeggy, Sam, Fiona and I made it along the scree track to the entrance, Robin, Jennie and Susanne seeing sense and turning back at various points on the way.
I always find it interesting to go into caves without having seen a survey and this proved no exception. A series of about 10 chambers along one huge rift, split by either boulder piles or short wriggles, led via a short, descending slope to a tiny streamway. This in turn dropped down a decidedly not-free-climbable 4m climb. Fortunately this continued over the top in a fossil passage which we explored in all directions before each closed down. A pleasant and quick trip that was made all the better by having no idea of what to expect. A look at the survey later showed that we explored well beyond the ends of the survey in the book.
I?d like to say that the day?s highlight was the caving, but on this occasion it definitely wasn?t. It seems that having turned back early, Robin, Jennie and Susanne had decided to go for a walk. Unfortunately, though, Jennie?s clothes were in my car so she decided to ?borrow? Skeggy?s. This left us rolling around laughing when, having taken off his furry and stood in a large and open carpark in his pants, Skeggy realised he had nothing to put on. Once we?d had our amusement, and realising quite how ugly Skeggy in his pants can be, Fiona donated him some of her clothes and we were on our way again, this time to the Scialet Michellier.
It was almost like being on Mendip ? a lidded entrance smack bang in the middle of a field only a 1 minute walk from the road. Fortunately, unlike on Mendip, the weather was lovely. My thumb was still hurting from my antics in the Tapinoir doline the previous day, so Skeggy rigged the entrance series. None of the pitches were very exciting but they served a purpose and quickly got us into large and, unusually for France, taped passage. A few yards along and a prusik up the fortunately well-fixed rope led to the Salle Sophie with some pretty good formations and, perhaps the best part, an immense false floor at the top of the pitch up. A swift exit, a pleasant change and a short walk took us home.
Party: Damian Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford
Time: 1hr (Berger), 2hrs (Michellier)
... continued below ...
Vercors 2008 - Part I
After the pre-requisite long drive through the night, we all arrived somewhat the worse for wear sometime on Saturday afternoon ? all, that is, except Andy?s party who took the more gentle option of an overnight stop near Reims.
What we all wanted on arrival was a cup of tea or coffee, but unfortunately this necessitated a trip to the supermarket first. We were soon dispatched and, together with a very excited Jennie who couldn?t believe that we could possibly be buying so much, succeeded in filling to large trolleys. Jennie was yet more astounded when we kept assuring her that everything would be gone in two days and another shop would almost certainly be needed.
Coffee, showers and an armchair later and we were able to think about the next day. As always something very gentle is the order of the day as a combination of tiredness, completely disorganised kit and one immense faff means that we take literally all day to do a two-hour trip. Predictably the sleep-deprived discussions didn?t come to much and they quickly degenerated into some of the party debating the whys and wherefores of Health & Safety while the more sensible ones sheltered in their beds with heads buried under pillows.
Sunday, 17th August - Scialet Joufflus
The next morning, after the arguing ones had kissed and made up, and the rest of us had nursed our headaches, we set off for the Scialet Joufflus and the Scialet de la F?e Anglaise, both fulfilling all the requirements admirably ? short, easy, next to the car and not far from the g?te. Uncharacteristically for us, we went straight to the entrances, nobody had forgotten any gear and everyone seemed enthusiastic! Unfortunately the plan of two parties rigging the caves and then swapping afterwards soon disappeared, as some French cavers had beaten us to the F?e Anglaise, so we all got cosy in the Joufflus instead.
I rigged down, making lots of positive noises about how attractive the pitches were as I went. Jennie, on her third SRT trip, was ably looked after by the rest of the party and, it being our first day, we turned around as soon as it looked as if we might have to actually touch rock! The highlight here was definitely Sam?s new light (henceforth to be known as ?The Sun?) illuminating every inch of a genuinely very attractive 25m pitch. Jennie did an excellent job prusiking out and we emerged to a sunny, but fairly cool Vercors afternoon a couple of hours after going in. Excuses soon flowed for not bothering with the F?e Anglaise and we were soon back at the g?te. A very pleasant first day.
Party: Fiona, Robin and Damian Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford, Jennie Lawrence
Time: 2hrs
Monday, 18th August ? Grotte Inf?rieure de Bury
9 years ago I went to this cave and cave away overwhelmed by its brilliance and a bit frustrated that we hadn?t made it to the bottom. Ever since then I?ve thought about the Bury and longed to return and now was my big chance. Extremely uncharacteristically Skeggy had done a brilliant job of packing all the ropes the night before and an enthusiastic team set off for the carpark. A bit of a search around for the entrance (in future, walk to the Source of the Bury then walk uphill for about 150 yards) and we were son sitting down underground cooling off and escaping flies.
Everything that I had remembered was still there ? a superb stream with a beautiful white floor that dropped downwards with a few short pitches and lots of short climbs. Wonderful (and similar for me, but better, than the Trou Mille in the Henne Morte system) For added entertainment, and to make sure there?s a bit of effort involved, there?s also a crawl with a pool of cold water in the middle that leads to a tight (30cm) pitch. After that is a wet section requiring some interesting traversing to avoid a soaking and then comes the best section of streamway yet ? loads of little climbs, really nice stal and a few entertaining climbs up and over blockages for added value.
We?d been going for a couple of hours when, at around -175m, I came to the 18m Puits de l?Escarpolette. After using the 3 obvious (and good) spits I then tried every height possible to find something else to rig off ? and failed. It was obvious to me where the spits needed to go as there was a vast quantity of carbide soot about 5m further out over the pitch and a good 4 metres above my existing spits. I don?t like rising traverses at the best of times but this one, with almost no protection even when I got there, was way beyond anything I was willing to do. A glance at the guidebook rigging info suggested that there was meant to be a fixed handline here and this made me feel a little less inadequate, as I?m not a fan of failing to rig pitches. I had a look at going straight down off the spits I had, botching something with a few naturals on the way, but there was nothing that I was willing to do. We, therefore, turned around very reluctantly only half-way down a fabulous cave. Very frustrating but a superb trip nonetheless.
A quick look in Des Marshall?s book afterwards showed that his rigging suggestion involved going straight down off the 3 spits I had found and ignoring all the rub and water in the process ? not my idea of fun!! Much go back with either a bolting kit or an indestructible rope and a hood!
Party: Damian & Fiona Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford, Andy Clark
Time: 6hrs (incl. 1 hr of faffing at the pitch!)
Wednesday, 20th August ? Scialet de la F?e Anglaise
With reasons not to do pretty much every cave in my list, we finally settled on the Scialet de la F?e Anglais with Scialet Joufflus as rigging practice for Skeggy, also giving Andy a chance to visit this gem. This would then give Jennie some more SRT practice and the rest of us a gentle, lazy day!
I rigged down and we had an uneventful, but pleasant trip to the bottom, where we took it in turns to hang on the rope and look at the deep and clear lake before turning around. Once again, ?The Sun? proved amazing here, easily piercing at least 15m down into the lake.
Jennie successfully negotiated her way past numerous rebelays and 3 20m pitches. She?s on her way to being really good at SRT!
Party A: Damian & Robin Weare, Sam Clifford, Jennie Lawrence
Party B: Fiona Weare, Mike Skegg, Andy Clark
Time: about 2 hrs
Thursday, 21st August ? Le Tapinoir
The guide book described everything in this entrance as ?magnifique?, so I was very interested in going. I remembered that on a previous visit I hadn?t been very impressed and we?d had a long walk involving lots of blundering around looking for the entrance. However, I also thought that that had been to the alternative Glaci?re entrance and remembered that the other party on that occasion walked straight to the cave.
We?d popped over on a quick recee the previous evening to check that we could find the entrance and, more importantly, that there was still enough ice left in the entrance for us to reach the spits to rig. We found the entrance no problem and ascertained that, although there was almost no ice, Sam was tall enough to reach a set of spits and we could probably then botch a deviation that would get us down the entrance pitch safely.
As a result of this recee, we went straight to the cave and the walk is actually quite a gentle one and signposted! Unfortunately, while carrying Fiona?s rucksack down the large entrance doline, I slipped on a rocj and bashed my thumb. The ice in the entrance soon managed to reduce the swelling, though, and I was soon able to wield a spanner and load my descender. A hihgly botched deviation on the entrance pitch got us, via a squeeze, to the head of the P59. After initially going the wrong way and then re-rigging the ?correct? way, we touched down in a large chamber that reminder me of the Marble Steps Main Chamber. This led almost immediately to a knee-knocking P41 ? a perfect free-hang that got bigger and bigger the further you went down ? superb and probably the most impressive dry pitch I have every descended.
A pleasant, but slightly thrutchy meander then led to another nice P28. As it had a bit of water going down it, it was almost like a Dales? pitch. A bit of passage, a climb up and a wriggle back down led to some dodgy spits (the first of the week!) and an improvised rebelay saw us at the bottom. Nothing for it but to turn around a head out, noticing as we went the obvious pair of good spits 1m from my botched rebelay!! A depth record for Sam at something over 200m.
Party: Fiona & Damian Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford
Time: 4hrs
Friday, 22nd August ? Grotte du Berger & Sciallet Michellier
Now we?ve all heard of the Berger, but the Grotte du Berger is somewhat smaller than its namesake. Intended for Susanne, who was a novice visiting from Germany, in the event only Skeggy, Sam, Fiona and I made it along the scree track to the entrance, Robin, Jennie and Susanne seeing sense and turning back at various points on the way.
I always find it interesting to go into caves without having seen a survey and this proved no exception. A series of about 10 chambers along one huge rift, split by either boulder piles or short wriggles, led via a short, descending slope to a tiny streamway. This in turn dropped down a decidedly not-free-climbable 4m climb. Fortunately this continued over the top in a fossil passage which we explored in all directions before each closed down. A pleasant and quick trip that was made all the better by having no idea of what to expect. A look at the survey later showed that we explored well beyond the ends of the survey in the book.
I?d like to say that the day?s highlight was the caving, but on this occasion it definitely wasn?t. It seems that having turned back early, Robin, Jennie and Susanne had decided to go for a walk. Unfortunately, though, Jennie?s clothes were in my car so she decided to ?borrow? Skeggy?s. This left us rolling around laughing when, having taken off his furry and stood in a large and open carpark in his pants, Skeggy realised he had nothing to put on. Once we?d had our amusement, and realising quite how ugly Skeggy in his pants can be, Fiona donated him some of her clothes and we were on our way again, this time to the Scialet Michellier.
It was almost like being on Mendip ? a lidded entrance smack bang in the middle of a field only a 1 minute walk from the road. Fortunately, unlike on Mendip, the weather was lovely. My thumb was still hurting from my antics in the Tapinoir doline the previous day, so Skeggy rigged the entrance series. None of the pitches were very exciting but they served a purpose and quickly got us into large and, unusually for France, taped passage. A few yards along and a prusik up the fortunately well-fixed rope led to the Salle Sophie with some pretty good formations and, perhaps the best part, an immense false floor at the top of the pitch up. A swift exit, a pleasant change and a short walk took us home.
Party: Damian Weare, Mike Skegg, Sam Clifford
Time: 1hr (Berger), 2hrs (Michellier)
... continued below ...