Caving 2002-2003

Vis Valley

The Youngest Wessex member in the Herault

Chris Grosart first visited the Herault in 2002, aged 21. This is the article she wrote following her trip, for the Wessex Cave Club journal...

With only a handful of SRT trips to my name, it was with both excitement and nervous anticipation that I set off to the stunning Herault region of France. Whatever lay ahead, it was sure to be a steep learning curve and a whole new experience.
 

Up early the first morning, I had a gentle introduction with a trip to La Follatiére, accompanying divers (Mike Thomas and Phil Short) to the sump. The cave had a very impressive entrance and beautifully carved passage throughout, the rock becoming sharper and more fragile the further you went. The trip was pleasantly rounded up with a dip in the crystal clear river and bread and cheese in the shade.

The following day was spent in serious heat locating (rapidly thanks to the GPS) the Calaven de la Seoubio.

Beginning with a 30m vertical pitch, this had some nice flowstone and upstream and downstream sumps. Two very excited divers came back to dive them, despite very bad air in the cave. Phil Short did his bit for conservation in the area by rescuing an unfortunate lizard that had lost his tail in a fight and had fallen 30m down the entrance pitch. Could this be the first prusiking reptile??



Caver descends the Seoubio

Next day, accompanied by Suntan (Rob Delacour) rigging and Nik-Nak (Simon Richards), we ventured to the Aven de Bois du Bac. This was a testing little cave for all of us. Descending a 20m slope to the first pitch of 30m, you approach a short, 8m pitch leading to the beginning of a sporting traverse, with two huge columns behind it. Rigged tight, you lean out from the rope over the abyss to pull away from rubs, before squatting in an uncomfortable little corner, perched on a ledge, above the next pitch of approximately 22m (pitch lengths are estimates and the survey of this cave was misleading in places).

 

At a rising traverse, this can be negotiated by using either the P-hangers in place, or a pendulum across to natural belays. We opted for the hangers after a brave attempt at the naturals by Nik-Nak. At this point, desperate for the loo, I took the opportunity whilst Suntan was busy rigging and I had a slight accident which will be revealed in due course...

Finishing up in a well decorated gallery, I ran out of light and resorted to back up which needed to be saved for the exit, so I spent much time in this gallery, unable to see a thing, whilst waiting for the boys to investigate what we believed to be the final pitch. Suntan informed us with a few choice words that he had run out of rope and we left the cave in a huff at having not bottomed out. I had a very educational trip and felt confident enough to attempt my main objective, which was to follow the next day.

Conversation with Phil Short that evening on the campsite, on returning from the laundry:

P.S:  Why are you washing your boiler suit?

CG:  Because it's dirty.

P.S:  All our boiler suits are dirty. But we don't bother washing them.

C.G: No, mine is really dirty.

P.S:  So? You still don't need to wash it.

C.G: Yes I do. It's manky.

P.S:  So is mine.

C.G:  Not as manky as mine.

P.S:  Yeah, but I pissed in mine.

C.G:  So did I!!


Suntan rigs the Mas Raynal

The main drop into a huge hole in the ground called the Abime de Mas Raynal had fascinated me ever since this trip to the region had come about and it was my sole aim to attempt this should I be confident enough. Again in the company of Suntan and Nik-Nak, we did lots of lying down and leaning over the edge with cameras and so forth to try and grasp the enormity of this cave, which looks fairly unassuming and humble from the very surface. It is not until you reach the first belay and begin to descend that you can really appreciate the size of it - and it's a bit bloody late by then!

Suntan spent much time arranging a three way belay at the head of the initial pitch, which is only a few metres to the main hang of about 70 metres. The only rebelay available is an iron bar, driven into the face of the wall, rustic looking and creaky, with a tape sling wrapped around it. A piece of metal at the end of the bar stops your

sling sliding off the end! Mr Suntan ventured down first, shaking the rope to signal his arrival at the second belay which is at the head of a gully 70 metres below.



Caver ascends the main hang
of the Abime de Mas Raynal

 

I was next, coaxed by Nik-Nak and deliberately kept my chin up throughout every menouvre to avoid looking down into the void below me. I then changed over at the metal bar and began to descend, my immediate obstacles being the weight of the rope in my right hand and my left hand depressing the 'stop' - and of course trying not to look down!

As I began to descend, the greenery and foliage began to wither away as did the heat of the outside world.

You descend into the chilly gloom and trying to avoid the view below was becoming nearly impossible as the cave suddenly opened out into nearly double the size of the entrance and I could not help catching glances of the dark, green gully below, with a seemingly bottomless blackness beyond it.

Stopping only twice, I decided to have a good look around on the second one, at about half way, having descended 50m with another 50m to go. I took a huge breath to try and slow my heartbeat and shush it a bit, locked off my descender (using two arms to lift the weight of the rope) and let the rope ever so slowly turn me around to take in the size and beauty of the place.

At this point it was still daylight but it was getting dimmer and the surface was a long way gone, seeming miniscule with the sun peeping through the trees. After a few seconds to compose myself, feeling the strain slightly on my arms, I decided that it would get easier if I continued descending at a less tentative rate and the rope would become lighter and less cumbersome.

I reached the rebelay, took a welcome break and continued down into the gully, below which a roaring river broke the silence. About four metres from the water you swing across to Suntan, grab hold of him, nearly pull him into the water and then clamber up onto terra firma and try to push him off the other side of his rock!

It was at this point, having stopped swaying all over the place that I now realised my very silly and now infamous error. Whilst passing the rebelay at the gully, I had forgotten to shake the rope for Nik-Nak. "Rope Free!" unfortunately is not sufficient in a cave of this size - nor is a whistle. He very rightly waited at the surface getting a bit fed up, whilst Suntan and I explored upstream and downstream. The most amazing thing for me was the clarity of the aqua blue coloured water, with straws in the roof and stal dotted around. (The resurgence for this cave is the Sorgues, just over a mile away and I dived this some 6 years later. It too is a clear blue dive and Clive wrote on his slate at the end of the main passage "Mas Raynal - 1.5 km that way ->!!")

We crossed a rickety ladder bridge and turned back at the point where the divers, in the cave at the time, had begun their attempt at finding a way on (they didn't). The huge dam at the bottom of the last pitch also fascinated me as to how such a monstrosity could be built so far underground and we weren't sure of its purpose.



Multi pitch route Mas Raynal

I made my way out via the multi-pitch route which had been rigged by the divers and on reaching the rebelay which connected the two routes, shook the rope for a very annoyed Nik-Nak who was waving and shouting "Can I come down now?" Oops! An amusing incident occurred when, due to the poor acoustics, Suntan was calling to know if he could make his way up and we all got our wires crossed, which frightened Nik-Nak. I called back to him "No, wait there!" Unfortunately so did Nik-Nak who thought I was talking to him! He was suspended 50 metres off the ground at the time and not happy!

Surfacing alone in the heat, tired but elated to have done this trip, I had a wander around the entrance which took ten minutes!!

After a day or so of resting (which involved canoeing and visiting some stunning show caves) we were off again, this time to the Aven de Rogues.

Event de Rogues

Malc Foyle and Pete Hann stole the limelight as they tried to widen the second pitch with chemical persuasion, which was an interesting squeeze requiring you to take your descender off and use it above your head! Pete nearly managed to blast his hand off, unbeknown to Mike, Nik-Nak, Jo and I until we found blood at the bottom of the first pitch on our return. This was a fun SRT trip and Nik-Nak couldn't resist venturing off into crawly bits at the end. The rest of us waited for him in the boulder chamber.

We returned to find Malc's landrover gone and that, tired with waiting and with an injured dwarf in tow, they had gone to the pub!

Carmen, Jo, Mike, Phil and Nik-Nak and me went to the Abime de Rabanal, a superb SRT trip, which begins with a couple of daylight, shorter pitches against a slimy green ramp, leading to a main hang of 60 metres.

Chris descending the Rabanal
by Carmen Smith

We had a very enjoyable descent into this vast cave and went off exploring, clambering up slippery, muddy slopes. Carmen and I left the others to their climbing and made our way out for a photo shoot. It was a very long prusik and we sat on the surface, suffering in the heat, waiting for others to make their way out.

My last trip was a jaunt to the popular cave with the French, the Aven du Barnaby. Pete Hann, Nik-Nak and I pushed on and Gordon Kaye turned back after a while, having had enough. This was not my favourite trip of the summer and the others seemed to agree. It was the deepest cave we had visited at -180m but it was an awkward little place, quite pretty with a good draught. I de-rigged the last pitch and found the place to be a pain in the neck, with annoying fixed aids everywhere, including a shopping trolley!

The gang at the bottom of the Rabanal

The Show Caves in the area are not to be missed. The Grotte de Clamouse and Demoiselles are stunning.

The canoeing down the river Herault is also a great day out and the Wessex thoroughly enjoyed themselves.


Abime de Rabanal by Clive Westlake

Useful links to caves in this area:
Aven du Barnabe
Abime de Rabanel
Aven de Mas Raynal
Calaven de la Seoubio
Follatiere

Easter 2003 and we headed back to the Herault for a short break.
First, we went to the Calaven de la Seoubio to see divers Mike Thomas and Phill Short find some ancient human remains in the sump.
Not yet a cave diver, I waited acutely bored in the cave and had no idea that four years later I would be pushing the end of the system myself.

We also revisited the Mas Raynal, this time descending the multi-pitch route. The rusty metal bar I had hung from the year before looked far worse this time around.

Chris at the entrnce of the Garrel

A new cave on the list was the Aven de Garrel, a short walk uphill from the road. We mooched about in the entrance caverns with sculpted rocks and sandy floors. It was a really pretty cave but we had only seen a small part of it and we were unaware of a sump which myself and Tim Webber were to dive and push and double in length in 2012.

Aven de Garrel