PSM Expedition Diary - Aranzadi
Gallery Trip
Party: Bruce
Duncan, Mark McAuley, Andy Evans and Mike Smith.
Having
spent 11 hours caving the previous day, decided to have a relatively short trip
to explore the awesome La Verna chamber. After a twenty minute walk from the
parking area we arrived at the EDF tunnel just as a large group of tourists
were leaving. Before the expedition members entered the cave they were
approached by a tourist guide. The tourist guide questioned as to why we had
left the door open the previous day as a stranger had wandered into the cave in
jeans and a t-shirt. The tourist guide had assumed that it was our fault as we
had had the key the previous day, but it soon become apparent that the door
wouldn’t lock when shut and that no key was required for entry. With the name
of the British MOD cleared, we advanced into the cave.
We
walked through the EDF tunnel, a flat tunnel of approximately 700 metres that
leads straight into La Verna. The chamber was so large (over 200 x 200 m) that
even with the group’s torches on the highest setting, only a fraction of the
cave was visible and it was impossible to see the ceiling and opposite walls.
After a few minutes of searching for a path, weheaded
down a steep incline thatmeandered down the boulder
strewn sides of the chamber to the bottom of the cave.
The
bottom of La Verna was on the opposite side to the EDF entrance, which was
visible due to a dim orange light and provided the first indication of exactly
how large the chamber was. We then headed up a separate steep path searching
for an in situ rope on the right hand side. Upon reaching the top of the path,
it became apparent that the group had walked too far and had started to head
toward the East hitting a massive boulder slop. Having retraced our steps the
group fount the base of the 55m climb up to a series of traverses that climbed
the remaining 70 m up to the Aranzadi Gallery. Bruce
and Mike free climbed the crumbly 55 m climb and rigged a rope in place for the
remainder of the group to use, whilst Mike climbed higher and recced a higher chamber. Due to time constraints, the group
did not manage to all get into the Aranzadi Gallery
but planned on returning later in the week to continue their exploration.
As
the group climbed back up the Northern boulder slop towards the EDF tunnel a
group of tourists were led into the chamber by the Verna show cave staff. All
of the lights placed around the cave were switched on, allowing everyone to see
exactly how big the cave was. Despite years of caving experience, nobody in the
group had seen any caves comparable in size. The chamber was an order of
magnitude bigger than anything in the UK. The group then exited through EDF
tunnel, and were surprised to find that the weather was pleasant
Bruce Duncan