moletta said:I looked these ascenders up, so I know what they are. They came into use in the 30's.
What I'd like to know is how the French cavers descended at that time.
Anyone know off hand?
moletta said:Thanks.
I think the lower or abseil seem the most likely before WW2, although I do wonder if some people are sliding down the rope hand over hand.
moletta said:Casteret was on a different level!
langcliffe said:moletta said:Casteret was on a different level!
and very prone to poetic licence. Pierre Chevalier, on the other hand, was the master of the understatement.
Kenilworth said:... though your assessment of his style might have been borrowed from Waltham's liner notes.
langcliffe said:Kenilworth said:... though your assessment of his style might have been borrowed from Waltham's liner notes.
It's actually my assessment, and I don't know what "Waltham's liner notes" is referring to. Subterranean Climbers has been a favourite caving book of mine for over 50 years, way back when Tony was still a student.
moletta said:''I suspect Castaret of far more than poetic licence''
Curious about this.
moletta said:''Outright fabrication. Caves inspire exaggeration and so there are an enormous mass of written and spoken legends with no truth to them at all. Much of what Castaret has written has the familiar ring of bullshit.''
There's a thought to conjure with. If he was economical with the truth, was it how he felt, or a style of writing in France at the time? People from the link seemed to have been there, what was different?
ZombieCake said:If you just happen to be passing the French / Spanish border in the Pyrenness (as you do) Grotte Casteret is easy to stumble upon - hang a left from the Breche de Roland and look for the big cavey thing. Nice place to chill out (not least because it's bloomin' freezing!).