Saints des Glace – Vercor
Friday, 27 July 2007
Part of the Trou Qui Souffle system, the Saints des Glace was a superb day out. Parking only a few minutes from the entrance the cave started with an ice blast of wind, presumably something to do with the saintly ice-cream making process. A few small pitches all well P-bolted led to a meandering stream and some more smallish pitches. Most of these can be free climbed but should be rigged as they become unclimbable if it floods. A couple of minor narrowings attempted to detect the more commodious members of the trip but surprisingly only the thinnest were deterred. They must have perceived a lack of resources for the return trip. There soon followed the ?Toboggan?, an interesting 100m inclined muddy passage with an in situ hand line. Sitting on the bottom of the Toboggan, the way on is to turn right, then 1st left after 20m or so. A small passage leads to a pitch head that also had an in situ rope. Frankly up to this point the cave had been somewhat modest in dimensions but the pitch was a window into the impressive Salle Hydrokarst ? an inky black chamber that disappeared into the distance in every direction. At the bottom of the chamber the descent was down a phreatic passage some 10m in height to a sump at ?267m. Home to Camping Oursierre in Villard de Lans for rope washing, tea and medals.
Images
Rope Washing at Camping Oursierre, Villard de Lans
Posted by: David Brock
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Posted: 15 August 2007