The last two weeks in July saw 12 YSS members (accompanied by 5 others from Hades CC) hit France for an action-packed holiday in the Vercors. We were based in an excellent gîte just outside Lans en Vercors and between us clocked up a huge variety of activities, including caving, walking, climbing, canyoning, cycling and even paragliding.
Caves visited included: Scialet Joufflus, Scialet Robin (2 trips), Grotte du Gournier (3 trips), Scialet du Brudour (2 trips), Grotte Favot, Grotte des Ramats, Trou des Anciens (2 trips), Saints de Glace, Glacière d’Autrans and Scialets Neufs. The caving highlight was almost certainly the Trou des Anciens-Scialet du Brudour through trip in the Réseau Christian Gathier. The upper entrance, the Trou des Anciens, opened in 2001, provides what is described in Spéléo magazine as “the nicest through trip in the Vercors massif” and covers 4 kilometres of superbly varied passageway, 2 kilometres of which are along a fantastic streamway – easily my best trip since the Berger. Other highlights included the ice formations in the Scialets Neufs, the brilliant Gournier streamway and the P140 in the Scialet Robin.
Non-caving highlights include a 14-pitch climb in the midday sun, about 10 different canyons and, of course, Emma’s tandem paragliding trip.
A more detailed and highly biased report, covering only the caving trips I was on will be in the next newsletter (that I am assured is imminent!)
Damian
