Trip report of my experience in Gouffre Berger - 5th August 2006
I had been on the first rigging team, on the 31st July. We\'d agreed not to all go as far as Aldos to speed up the exit as we would all be gong back. Thus my first encounter to the top of Gontards left me slightly under whelmed with the place, although of course I knew more was to come . . .
For the next few days, as the cave was rigged further and various people started having trips I was keen to get back in and see the sights. After sussing out who was doing what, finally decided that Keith Mason, Martin Eccles and I would go in on Saturday, early morning. Shortly after that decision, it started raining . . . and raining . . . and raining. We had word that one group was in the cave with Aldo\'s impassable and were sitting it out at camp 1 on the Friday. The forecast was to improve Friday night / sat morning so we held with the plan. On the way up sat morning we heard Aldo\'s had been passed and the others were out safe so felt quite confident the water would be OK. We set off down about 9:30am, knowing the cave was empty below so we should have no hold ups.
The entrance series all passed quite quickly and without incident. Much quicker than when rigging it. From the bottom of Aldos and out into the Grand Galerie we were struck by the size. Martin and Keith had been this far before but I hadn't so was suitably impressed. From all the pictures, I was expecting a dry passage, but there was a fair sized stream (and foam at least a metre higher from the day before) which meant we were picking our best route through the passage to keep dry feet. The large passage continued on. We arrived at one pool which looked a bit tricky to negotiate - looking left and right for the best side we spotted the boat and realised we were already at Lac Cadoux.
Keith had first attempt in the dinghy, but got spat out! I had next go, and we decided to bring bags across separately. I think in the boat pulling across the water is where it struck me that I was actually here, doing it. All safely across and continuing down past some excellent formations we hit the top of the rubble heap. This was fairly easy to find a way through and before we knew it we were sat at camp 1 at about midday. Keith called up the surface to report our arrival and we sat down for a brew and snack stop. I now knew that the hall of thirteen was within a minute or two and was keen to go for a look. After a quick stop we called the surface to let them know were setting off down and headed off. A quick admire of the superb Salle des Treize and surroundings and we were on and down passing Balcony and Vestiaire, I think.
All was looking good, we were feeling positive and then we dropped down the shirt climb to the start of the canals. To me this suddenly felt very different and enclosed. We set off traversing above the water and were fairly quickly greeted by a fair sized inlet the full width of the passage that we had to go under. The walls were quite slippery in places and we soon reached the fixed ropes. I had visions of what this would be like before coming to the cave, but I was not expecting to be hanging in the water. We (or at least I) found these quite awkward and uncomfortable. We soon got into a bit of a mind set and just plugged on with it, thinking it would be over soon. We then came to a stop and Keith, in front, and perched up on a ledge announced that the next rope was underwater. A brief conversation about how far underwater, for how long, what the conditions beyond would be like, whether it was passable and it was with regret, that we decided to turn back. This was obviously a disappointment. I\'d been unsure how far I could / would want to go before coming to France, but had felt quite positive up till this point. However I think it would have been unwise to continue as the conditions below would have been pretty unpleasant, I didn\'t particularly fancy swimming in a furry with all my gear and we would have been in a fairly bad position if the weather had turned.
With slightly lower spirits we set off back up to camp 1 to have a break. Plenty of time for photo stops on the return cheered us up, and we enjoyed the views more on the way up as we took more time to appreciate them. Back at camp 1, at about 3pm, we contacted the surface and reported the conditions and our plans. We then decided to have a meal and a brew before heading out as we felt it would take some hours for the water to drop. Leaving camp 1, the climb up the rubble heap felt quite steep, but eventually we were back into the nice passageway. Shortly after we saw some lights ahead and soon met up with Chris, Rob, Mark, John, Martin, Brian, Paul at Lac Cadoux. A brief chat informing them of the conditions and discussing their plans and then we were off again. A quick bit of route finding led us eventually to the foot of Aldos. Keith grabbed a rope first and I set off shortly after on the parallel rope. From the top of Aldos we\'d agreed to keep moving, so didn't see a lot of anyone else - other than the odd shout of rope free where it was relevant until on the surface, approx 11 hours after we\'d set off.
After a welcome cup of tea, Keith and I set off back, carrying a bag for Neil which was given many names throughout the journey, and after being stared out by some cows.
I didn't go for another trip. I think a combination of already having seen the famous stuff, being tired, Terry wanting a trip and having to take turns with Molly, and time / weather constraints convinced me that I\'d been as far as I was going. I\'d obviously have liked to do the full trip, but am very happy with what I did manage, and finally got to see some of the places I've read about and dreamt of for many years. Thanks to everyone who made it possible.
James
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