Picture 1.1: The survey of the Goul de la Tannerie as I knew it before my first dives there. The area denoted by the letter A corresponds to the survey of Picture 1.2 and the area denoted by the letter B to the survey of Picture 1.3 . I made both four years later.

Picture 1.2: I made this survey because one asked me to do it, initially it was part of a larger project including the study of several caves of Ardèche. Morphological details were needed in order to understand how and at what level caves had formed.

Picture 1.3: I also made this survey as a part of a larger project. The scale of the plane view is the same than the one for the cross-sections but it doesn’t appear explicitly. I’m not ashamed to write that I was not very skilled; I had made the drawing as well as the survey without using any informatics.

 

Picture 1.4: The entrance of the Goul de la Tannerie.

Picture 1.5: Betrand Léger was a famous explorer who made a precise survey of the Goul de la Tannerie. Presumably because of his very tough character, he died prematurely during an attempt to explore a cave in the Massif de la Chartreuse.

 

Picture 1.6: Inside the sump. Light bounces on air trapped at the ceiling.

Picture 1.7: Inside the sump, the guideline at right uses bolts installed by Bertrand Léger as well as other anchors.

 

Picture 1.8: Inside the sump. Some strata are more resistant to corrosion. This is a very clear cave and also a “very easy” one, at least for experienced divers. We didn’t belong to this category when we “explored” it at the end of the 90’s.

Picture 1.9: At about 700 metres from entrance, just before the deep zone. Bits of foam are trapped under the ceiling and recall that it is a sump: there is no free surface, and any problem regarding autonomy has to be anticipated.

 

Picture 1.10: A sight on the entrance from inside. Air trapped under the ceiling acts as a mirror.