Gourneyrou - 2012
Team: Danny Beiert, Tibor Czippon, Peter Gärtner, Oliver Kurtz, Markus Osswald, Darko Petkovic, Wilke Reints, Manuela Schoch, Andreas Voigt, Tobias Ziegler
Guests: Lars- Christian Amann, Heinke Teichmann
A little preface
Last year we already agreed that we "must" return here to Heráult - after we had gained so many experiences and everything went "like clockwork". Preparations for diving the Gourneyrou were on the agenda after the successful testing of the ropeway, and in our annual planning for 2012, the cave had thus become a permanent fixture. The logistical effort is not to be underestimated because of the huge amount of material, but there will be a few more impressions about that later...
It was clear to us from the beginning that a Habitat would be used again, so it was obvious that we wanted to practice using the Habitat once again in order to be well prepared. Therefore a part of the team met already in May at the Steinberger See near Regensburg. A similar habitat is already permanently installed in the lake at a depth of approx. 6m. Accompanied by best mood and most beautiful weather it went off then.
For the participants Andreas, Danny, Darko, Manuel, Manuela, Oliver, Tobias, Peter, Carsten and Markus it was on the agenda to rehearse the entry and exit of the RB divers into and out of the habitat and to make it easier for the RB divers to put on and take off their equipment after a procedure.
These actions are very complex and training was mandatory to be best prepared later. Tobias had brought his new habitat especially for the dry land exercises! There were good discussion bases, all experiences were shared and immediately flowed into the procedures. The installed habitat showed very clearly how well a prior coordination can facilitate all processes. Several times we practiced the entry and exit and thanks to Tobias' new achievement we also rehearsed the transport of the habitat under water.
A few weeks later, in June, 14 people set out on the trail. The Gourneyrou project of Cavebase started after more than three months of preparation. To get to the destination, all participants spend a few hours on German and French highways and torture the vehicles over a somewhat wider goat path through rough terrain for the crowning finale. The last meters of the approach are not really a road, but a more or less well paved and narrow forest path, which demands quite a bit of concentration from the driver. Normally no one gets lost here. We were all the more surprised to find campers here. It quickly turned out that this group belonged to an organization of French mountain rescuers and had simulated several rescue exercises in the last few days. With our knowledge of French, we also quickly found out that the departure of the group was imminent - lucky for us, because the campground is pretty much the only flat area far and wide.
Arrival day
Around 22:00 the last participants of the project arrived at the campsite. Before that the project materials like habitat, tanks, ropeway equipment, rebreather equipment and scooters were unloaded further up the access road.
Heinke and Tibor had already gone diving in the south of France a few days earlier and arrived from the neighboring Lot on Friday afternoon as the first on site and decided to carry the basic equipment for a check TG down to the cave. The very next morning they wanted to do a check dive to assess the visibility and line conditions. After a one hour dive and about 280 m of penetration to 33m depth it was clear - the conditions allow a push dive.
Around our campsite we set up a clothesline, a latrine and a place for an open fire. We made ourselves as comfortable as possible and the little aids make camping life a lot easier. The night was to be quite short for everyone and the alarm clock was set for 07:30.
Day 1
Waking up at 7:30 in the morning in the forest has its own charm and now conveys to even the last one that he has finally arrived and that now at least 4 days of hard work await him. The motivation could not have been better, busy activity before 7:30 a.m. woke most of us up anyway, so that after a short breakfast we could start our way to the stations.
After about 4 hours of intensive work, we were able to successfully carry out the first cable car ride with the transport box and thus start the real work - the transport of 1,500 kg of material towards the valley station. It was clear that the day was already too far advanced to place all the equipment in the pool - not least the onset of rain slowed down our efficiency noticeably. In the evening of the first day the balance was quite manageable. Equipment still had to be transported to the bottom station and the rain was getting heavier and heavier - we decided to call it a day at about 19:00. At least the pensioner tables and most of the bottles, suits and regulator sets had already arrived at the cave pool. Scooters, frames and habitat, however, could only be transported to the valley station the following day.
Day 2
Weather conditions - bad! Prospects - worse!
That's how the weather situation was to be described, during the night there was continuous rain, the temperatures dropped to 9 degrees and for breakfast we first had to discuss how to secure a dry place in the camp. We therefore decided to convert a sun awning we had brought with us as a provisional rain canopy. Later we even had to cover the area in front of the cave pool with the second awning, because it was definitely getting too slippery and the risk of injury was increasing dramatically by the minute... But it went amazingly well despite the adverse conditions!
While the remaining equipment was still being transported from the top station to the bottom station, Manuela and Peter prepared for their setup dive. Equipped with their pSCR in the D12 frame, the two set off to place the deco gases for the push team in the deeper part of the cave. Manuela and Peter describe their dive as follows:
This setup dive included several tasks, on the one hand bringing in and putting on the depots 3 (21m), 4 (40m) and 5 (54m), on the other hand of course checking the line situation in the further course of the cave up to ca.330m (about 60m depth) and we planned some time for a photo session in the deeper area.
Heinke put the stages, scooters and heating tanks in the pool for us, in total there were 4 stages per diver, 1 magnum scooter, 1 heating tank for the push divers and of course the own gases (1x bottom gas, 50/25, O2) plus scooter as well as the photo camera with flashes. The entry with gyro into the pool was a little challenge and not very easy.
After diving down and taking pictures of all the stages, scooters, etc., we finally got going. But the scooters had to work pretty hard and the ride felt like it was in slow motion despite full throttle. Visibility got a lot better after the entrance passage, but after any extended lingering, percolation set in immediately and it trickled from the ceiling. The line was intact in the area up to 350m so far and we were spared the patching. After the last depot at 54m was created and the situation was sufficiently explored, we still had time for a few photos. With the light remaining luggage, the way out went for it as in flight and we reached the pool after just under 3 hours....
In general, the cave pool on the 2nd day was more like a train station. At the end of this day we could proudly look back that all necessary equipment was available at the cave pool. This included the largest component of the project, - the habitat for Tobias and Carsten.
This is where the habitat training at Lake Steinberg paid off! Maneuvering the habitat through the narrow entrance area of the cave presented the greatest difficulty. Every centimeter of space was used, nevertheless the habitat tilted over and over again, but after almost 20 minutes of "threading work" the habitat finally touched the water - larger dimensions would have actually prevented the deployment! Hardly arrived in the water it was already received by the installation team Marc, Andreas, Oliver, Markus and Danny. In only 20 min it was perfectly placed - here a well-rehearsed team makes itself maximally noticeable!!! Now the habitat was equipped with various equipment for the later returners in much worse visibility. - With this the preparations were finished! Now it could finally start for Tobias and Carsten!
Day 3 (Push Dive)
This day was dedicated to the push dive. With great care Tobias and Carsten prepared themselves. All equipment and materials were double and triple checked. Deco plans and emergency scenarios were discussed with Darko for the last time. The photographers were in their positions and eagerly awaited their assignment. Wilke describes the photo part of the project as follows:
In order to take reasonably good pictures underwater, it is imperative that the photographer "zero in" on the cave. Almost all underwater caves show their own character in terms of camera settings. In order to get to know this character, "photo check dives" are inevitable. Tibor and I dedicated ourselves to this task one day before the push dive and worked out the best camera settings for this cave. The dive was aimed at understanding how flash, ISO setting, f-stop and rock color affect photos in this environment.
The cave is characterized by rather darker rocks, and in places the bizarre and sharp-looking boulders are covered with clay-like sediment. To make matters worse, the flash output could not be too strong due to the water turbidity, otherwise the sediment would have reflected too strongly and led to "foggy images". A few test images later, the best possible settings were worked out for this cave and the dive could be ended with satisfaction. The first hurdle for acceptable photos was mastered.
The photo settings were correct and everything was in exactly the right place, so that Tobias and Carsten could now start their dive. With great care, both put on their heavy equipment and took the first equipment for the long dive in the pool. Further diving equipment the two then take up at the previously determined depots. Tobias and Carsten describe their dive as follows:
After a hearty breakfast we went together to the Gourneyrou. The habitat was set, the depots were set up, the equipment was ready for use on their pensioner tables and Tobias and I only had to change our clothes. Finding a good spot to change at the bottom of the cave is really a challenge, there is practically no straight spot. At the cave everything is kind of narrow, the entrance area offers almost no space for the pensioner tables and the surrounding stones were also a bit slippery after 2 days of rain,- so best conditions, easy would be boring. After the team helped us into the equipment, we let ourselves fall into the pool in a controlled manner. appearing extremely graceful with D20 and RB on the back, we were handed the bailout gyro and more side bottles.
It's always great to experience the transformation from a lumbering pack mule on land to an elegantly floating wall unit in the water. But the best part is the feeling you get when you put your head under water. Slowly we floated to the habitat, there everyone checked his oxygen tanks and the breakgas. Shortly behind we picked up our scooters. Then we went on to the 21 meter gas, check, 36 meter gas, check. At the 36 meter gas there was one scooter and one depth gas each.
The gas change on the depth gas we have also done there immediately to then still on 54 meters the first Dekogas and the heating to control. Everything was clear, with the finger on the trigger we both shone into the unknown, we could start. We quickly went down to about 85 meters, and then quickly up again. From about 50 meters depth we slowed down the ascent and dived slowly to the gas change to 36 meters. Once there, Tobi signaled the gas change, and at the same time the bailout gyro was checked again - everything was fine - we could continue.
The cave made until then a dark fissured impression, the visibility was not exhilarating but good, and so we could see the crevice-shaped profile well. When we arrived at about 30 - 25 meters, the cave played a little trick on us. Intuitively, one has the urge to keep to the right. The passage continues there and leads back to the main passage, but the right side is a nice little narrow passage through which you can just about get through with a D20 frame, apart from the fact that shortly before the line ends and you can swim through the gap with the reel in your hand, pushing the scooter forward. Tobias lost the lamp head while diving through the narrow passage. But it should not remain there. In addition to the lamp failure, there was a lot of percolation, which also became stronger and stronger and almost ended in a zero visibility situation. All still no drama, which cost us however still additionally time was a Linecatcher of one of our Scooter - with practically zero visibility. In total we spent about an hour back there in the cave. Despite the very poor visibility, we noticed that the path we had taken was the wrong one, but it was part of a small loop connected to the main passage. We know this part of the cave really well now.
The HID burners pointed themselves inward of the cave again and without further ado the scooters pulled us back into clear water. To our amazement, the line situation behind was very good and we barely had to stop to ensure a continuous line. The further passage down to about 90 meters gets a little narrower than the one in the 20 meter area, had a width of maybe 4 to 5 meters, and was nowhere near as high. Arriving at almost 90 meters, we both looked at each other and decided we had gone far enough into the cave for today, took a quick look around, and headed back.
It went much better :-) Hardly lost time, we went again with full throttle to the 85 meters and with momentum up to about 60m, where we then slowly started decompressing. At 54 meters we then met Peter and Manu, who took a big swing of gear from us. The deco was rather unspectacular, but we were both looking forward to the habitat and the associated warm meal.
The entry into the habitat went really smoothly for both of us, thanks to the training. Arrived in the Habitat, Markus handed the Wetnotes to query the status and possible wishes.
"Everything is fine, have hunger", the penetration depth we had already conveyed before. After the noodle delivery service it became quiet, we had lots of fun and talked about the dive. Under the supervision of a support team we made our way to the cave entrance, where after 556 minutes of diving we were greeted by a good-humored team. After surfacing, we stayed in the pool for a while and told those present about the dive. Those team members who were already back on the ropeway were informed by radio about the most important details of the last hours.
The cave itself leaves a great attraction, already on the way back it was clear for us, "Here we must go again!".
Tobias and Carsten's descent was accompanied by a wild flurry of flashes. Wilke describes the "photo session" as follows:
The cave entrance pool was very narrow with its 2x2 meters and the team faced the challenge that pushdiver, photo and film team could not be in the pool at the same time. Darko had already recognized this weeks ago during the project planning and planned that the photo and film team (Danny, Oliver, Andreas and Wilke) would enter the cave exactly 30min. before the pushdivers descended. So the two documentary teams had enough time to find the best position for taking pictures and filming.
As it turned out, the time advantage was actually necessary, because after passing the first 50m it turned out that the slave flash settings were not perfect despite previous attempts from the day before, the settings had to be quickly corrected under water and checked against new test images.
Thanks to Darko's meticulous planning, Carsten and Tobias actually passed the first dome at about 70m after exactly 30min. Immediately the photo and film team started their work. Lightning flashed through the cave, HID lamps split the water like laser swords and the video lighting made the whole dome area appear in a diffuse and mysterious light. The documentary team tried as best they could to document Carsten and Tobias shooting their equipment.
After Tobias and Carsten left the Doku Team behind, they could start their way back towards the pool, satisfied.
The dive planning predicted very exactly when Carsten and Tobias started their way back and a deep support had to be available. This task was taken over by Peter and Manuela. Immediately afterwards, their plan was to carry out the first UW clean-up work and to free the cave from equipment that had already been used. Here a short description of Manuela and Peter:
After the agreed time we got ready to dive and started for the first check and clean up dive. Tobias and Carsten just left the 1st deco stop at 54m when their lights were visible for the first time and we met at 48m, Carsten held the wetnotes towards us. We only had a little time for a few photos. The two dropped the equipment they no longer needed in the hall at 40m, for us the sign to clean up. At a suitable place we could overtake them. When we reached the pool the support team could just get ready for the habitat entry.
Following Manuela's and Peter's return to the surface, the team of three with Markus, Marc and Danny prepared to accompany Tobias and Carsten on their way. Further equipment was taken from the two and transported towards the exit.
At some point, the two pushers arrived at the Habitat. A little later they were provided with warm food and drinks in the Habitat.
While the two had to do some deco, more equipment was brought to the surface. Outside, the trolley of the cable car was whirring up and down again and material that was no longer needed left the pool in the direction of the middle and top station. The rest of the cleanup under water was done by Markus and Manuela, followed by the recovery of the habitat together with Andreas and Oliver.
The remainder of the day consisted again of the cable car resuming its operation. The barrel was again filled countless times and at the top station the entire equipment of the project increasingly accumulated. At the top of the mountain station, the equipment was deposited at the side of the path, saving as much space as possible.
We had the largest part of the entire equipment already in the evening again at the mountain station and could sit down around 22:30 o'clock at the glowing grill - until far into the next morning hours we chatted hilariously and Tobias and Carsten explained the dive to the last detail - everyone listened to the explanations and at the end it was certain: The Cavebase comes again ...!!!!
Day 4
The next morning was marked by the departure. Darko, Lars, Tibor and Heinke left very early, as they all had to return to their regular work the following day.
The rest of the team transported equipment to the top station with the help of the cable car. Finally we dismantled the cable car and stowed all the equipment in our cars or trailers. With a strong coffee we planned the return journey. Carsten, Marc, Andreas, Markus, Tobias, Oliver, Wilke and Danny decided to pay a visit to the Goul de la Tannerie in Bourg Saint Andrèol. Manuela and Peter already left for the Lot to enjoy some more nice dives.
The night was pleasantly longer than the previous days, after all, the sports program of the last few days leaves its mark.
Day 5
Arriving the next morning in Bourg Saint Andrèol, we rented a room at Les Clos des Olivers. The best address for divers on site....
The whole day we enjoyed the wonderful sunny weather and the Tannerie showed up with an optimal water level and incredible visibility. Up to the shaft in about 700m distance everyone completed a relaxed dive here, although Wilke of course could not leave without his camera. Andreas summarized the day as follows...
We reached the cave in the early afternoon and after a short time our three teams got into the water; Marc and I in front, Wilke, Danny, Carsten and Oliver as photo team behind, and finally Tobias and Markus.
We calmly floated up to the shaft at 700 m, enjoying the very clear view and sometimes quite narrow cave. Those who have eyes for it, the cave rewards with wonderful, almost "magical" light games. Tip at this point: Do not shine directly into the cave or on the line, but on the ceiling. Air bubbles and the bright stone then do the rest... After a short detour into the shaft, it was then time to head back. Relaxed and with shining eyes we reached the cave pool after about 2 hours. After dismantling our equipment we drove directly to the hotel, where after a week of camping a warm shower, a mirror (!) to shave and a real ... (okay, we'll skip that at this point ...) were waiting for us. After that, we sought the beach promenade home, where we reviewed the events of the week with food and wine.
Day 6
The following morning we started the actual return journey. Thanks to the radios we carried with us, we were able to discuss what we had experienced for a very long time even during the trip.
In this sense,
Your Cavebase
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