Project schedule
Arrival day (Saturday)
Saturday was the day of arrival and the individual team members set off from different corners of Germany to the Ardèche. In the course of the evening, the individual carpools gradually arrived at the Camping des Tempeliers (http://www.camping-templiers-ardeche.com). Due to the advanced time we decided for the arrival day to take only the most important things from the parking lot on foot and after consultation with the staff of the campsite on Sunday with the help of the winch to transport all the diving material down to the Ardèche.
Transport and preparation day (Sunday)
Strengthened by a breakfast of freshly baked croissants and chocolate rolls, we divided into two groups - loading the cable car at the top station and unloading at the bottom station - and started the material transport together with the staff from the campsite. We made rapid progress and, parallel to the loading and unloading, decided to start transporting the first equipment towards the Source du Castor. The Source is located about 15 minutes walk from the valley station and already last year has shown that it is easiest to carry the necessary equipment on foot upstream.
Already in the afternoon, after 20 cable car rides and some effort of the team, we had brought all the equipment to our base camp just outside the cave. To be able to start diving right away on Monday, Max and Olli scooted the bail-out tanks across the Ardèche to the cave entrance, while the rest of the team was busy preparing the RBs.
In the evening we gathered and planned the first dives for the next day.
First day of diving: cave setup / video and exploration day (Monday)
Monday started with a briefing on the emergency equipment and the emergency chain. Where is which equipment located, how is the rescue chain set up and who has which first-aider training and can fill which role if necessary. Safety always comes first, because it can never be ruled out that something might happen. That is why the worst-case scenario must also be planned and coordinated.
The rest of the day was dedicated to cave preparation for the coming days. The support teams stocked the pre-designated depots with bailout tanks so that each diver, in addition to the RB, can descend with only one bailout tank on the diver. During the project, the gas depots along the course of the cave ensured that each diver could switch to his OC gas at any point in the cave in the event of a problem, and could use the depots to supply himself with the gases needed for safe diving out. We also took advantage of the good visibility conditions at the beginning of the project to get the best video and photos possible. The push team used the last dive of the day to successfully search their way to Salle Chaotique, the previously known End of Line.
Second day of diving (Tuesday)
Although, as is so often the case with our projects, we were sitting in the middle of a nature reserve, this time we fully enjoyed the amenities of the campsite, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the cave, and started our morning with fresh baguettes and croissants. Although the first two days were very exhausting, the motivation in the team was clearly noticeable. Max and Fabi had already managed to find the Salle Chaotique yesterday. For today it was planned that the two should get out of the water together with Olli and look for a continuation of the cave. In addition, the other diving teams wanted to take a closer look at the areas further ahead and produce further documentation material where possible.
Before the diving, however, there was still an official item on the program. Thus, the responsible protected area supervisors of the nature reserve "Réserve Naturelle Nationale des Gorges de l'Ardèche" had announced themselves for today. The reunion from last year, where we had already received a visit, was very exciting, as we received many insights into the work of the caretakers and a lot of information about fauna, flora and caves in the region. An exciting exchange developed, which showed how important the work of the local people is and that both divers and caretakers on site benefit from a good cooperation.
After visiting the people in charge, we headed to our project base, where it became apparent that a surface manager and flexible project and dive planning pays off. Small mishaps and unpredictabilities always upset the actual daily plan, but could always be quickly adjusted by Anke, our surface manager, so that all dive teams got into the water.
With the finding of Sump 2, the 2nd diving day could also be successfully completed.
Third day of diving (Wednesday)
On the third day of diving, the focus was on the first dive of Sump 2. A support team transported needed equipment for the exploration dive to Salle Chaotique and optimized the depot setup in the back of the cave, now that the cave course to Sump 2 was clearly defined.
The photo and video team pushed further into the back area and the push team managed the initial dive of Sump 2 under extremely difficult conditions, giving it the name "Donut Sump" due to its shape. A detailed report of the Push Team's exploration of the new section of the cave can be read in the Push Divers' Report section.
Fourth day of diving (Thursday)
After finding out the night before that the camera didn't work on the first dive, the team decided to do a second dive in Donut Sump and document it, and again to systematically look for more continuations.
The other teams used the time to do more dives in the Castor.
Fifth day of diving and return (Friday)
After completing the initial dive and documentation of the donut dump, Friday was all about cleaning up. The created depots were dissolved and all the equipment was brought back from the cave to the campsite.
In addition, Jan and Irène had contacted us because they were on a small diving trip in the Ardèche and they wanted information about the Source du Castor. Since there was still a lot of our equipment in the cave, they took the opportunity to have a look at the cave themselves. We were also happy to have 4 more strong arms to help us with the transport back, because after a strenuous week the forces were slowly dwindling.
While we had to carry all the material upstream during the set-up, we were able to use the scooters for the return transport to carry all the bottles downstream to the campsite and from there to transport them up to the valley station of the cable car with the help of a caterpillar of the campsite. Many thanks for the support of the camping staff, who helped us where they could the whole week!
On the last evening we celebrated the successful project and the discovery of Sump2 in the Castor with a barbecue. Together with the staff from the campsite we watched the videos of the Donut Sump. A goosebump moment when the whole team can watch the push team exploring.
Departure day - loading vehicles and going home (Saturday)
After a short night and rather small eyes, the next morning it was time to transport all the equipment up to the cars at the mountain station with the help of the cable car before the individual team members set off again in the direction of Germany.
In this sense
Your Cavebase