RRCPC
2017 trip to Pierre St Martin
The summer of 2017 saw
20 Red Rose and guest cavers along with long suffering partners & family
head to the deep South of France to take on one of the classic big systems - the
Pierre St Martin. With over 80km of passage and vertical range of 1400m the
system includes some awesome cave passage and through trips ending at one of
the top 10 largest underground chambers, La Salle de Verna.
After a 3 day journey
with torrential thunderstorms in the UK and roasting heat and no air
conditioning through France, Rowena & I arrived at the Ibarra campsite that
was to be home for the next two weeks. A friendly face and a cold beer greeted
us, Harvey Lomas, who lives just round the corner from us in Settle but caves
with the South Wales (it takes all sorts). The SWCC had been out for the
previous week or so which turned out to be a bonus as they agreed to leave
their ropes in the higher entrances which saved a lot of rigging. Social duties
fulfilled, we worked our way down the campsite until we found the Red Rose
shanty and more beer.
An advance party (Tony
Rooke, Djuke Veldhuis, Dinny, Tom & Emma, Dave and Marcus) had had a foray
that day to find the Tunnel du Vent from the bottom end in advance of a through
trip. Only three fell foul of the awesome scale of the place (Tom, Emma and
Djuke) who spent some bonus time walking around the massive chambers in
circles.
The following day (Mon
7th August) whilst Ro & I were setting up camp and failing to go shopping,
Tom & Emma and Dave and Marcus went for the through trip from Tete Sauvage
to the Verna and EDF Tunnel, Emma writes:
"Tete
Sauvage to EDF Tunnel through trip with Dave & Marcus. Changed into
wetsuits at the bottom of the pitches & were pretty warm the whole way
through. Put dry gear on for the stomp out from Tunnel du Vent. Dave and Marcus
had a very precarious way of getting across the Tunnel. Great
trip." Emma Wilson.
After a day at camp Steve Gray and I had tent fever and drove up the hill for a familiarisation trip. Sadly the mist had come down so we could see sweet F.A. The mist got heavier and more electrical as the evening wore on to the point that Steve and family discovered why buying second hand tents from eBay might not be such a good idea. They eventually abandoned their luxury sieve to move in to the gear tent and dwell on the flood evacuation instructions, for your safety and peace of mind, dotted around the campsite.
The next day, a
bedraggled crew emerged to a grey but less aquatic scene. Steve and family went
tarpaulin shopping, Tom and Emma had to fix the car whose bonnet was stuck shut
which meant they couldn't change the headlights, whilst everyone else went in
search of sunshine - but only found a slimy Via Ferrata instead. I was left
moping around the campsite with Ro, still recovering from the journey, but was
saved by Gareth and Sarah of the SWCC who were heading up for a trip in to the
EDF Tunnel and La Verna:
"Having
been educated in the rules regarding keys (behind the tiny statue near the
entrance), and the need to return the key to the bar at the bottom of the
track, and further educated in driving etiquette (don't get in the way of the
show cave van on the single track), we went up the [EDF] tunnel, turn right at
the crossroads, L at the electric cupboard and WOW! The [Verna] chamber is
massive, little yellow manikins [actually life size] dotted round and spot lit
give some sense of scale.
We headed up the cavers' route, following the stream past the dam on to a section of traverses, taking care to clip on with cows tails and were surprised to be overtaken by a bunch of tourists with no gear at all. Sarah got the wobbles and an attempt at an alternative slippery climb finished her off, so we beat a retreat to the entrance. Sarah went back to the van whilst Gareth & I went back in to explore upstream for ~1hr. Lots of crumbly paths around huge chambers. I took a few pictures then back to the Verna which we had to ourselves for 10 minutes - magic. Came out to more rain and waited politely for the show cave van to go past but then gave up as we were past the appointed hour when no more vehicles would be up from the show cave".
Regrouping on Weds 9th, except for Dinny and Emma who went
cycling, we attempted to go canyonning in a cave the Grotte de Bidouze. After
significant navigational challenges we managed to find a cheese shop and all
bought some rations then on down an increasingly unlikely looking track which
petered out. We parked up and carried on walking in to the woods, past the
inside out shagging slugs, and eventually found a magnificent view down a steep
sided valley. Clambering down a steep slippery path we eventually found the
wrong cave that got increasingly wet to the point that Djuke took all her
clothes off whilst Steve filmed the lovely globular formations. It was a no go
so we investigated another entrance spotted on the way back. This contained
some lovely gours leading to a waterfall dropping in - we'd found the lower
entrance of the right cave. Happy with that, we headed back to the cars to
fight another day.
P.S. Top tip: If short of cooking oil why not buy a vinaigrette
and just use the top half. (It was dark in the shop, honest!)
Signing off for now there will be another installment in the
next Newsletter.
Cheers,
Sam Lieberman.
