ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORTS
1996 Report
JANUARY
* Even the 1st of January, we worked at the gate in the entrance
of the Grotte des Emotions. The rest of the month we worked in this cave,
where we discovered a lot : Galerie des Gours, Salle des Racines, Salle
Sanguine. Also the recently discovered Salle du Collecteur was revisited
but did not yield a big continuation. Meanwhile, slowly but surely,
we were also surveying the cave. We also continued working at the gate.
* We also visited the Grotte de Hotton, very beautiful ! (but our Emotions
is also hot stuff.)
* The first official traverse Weron-Dellieux was spicy for our Walloon friends.
* Visiting the Nou-Moulin.
FEBRUARY
* Excellent "xxxing" . Unforgetable dragging of a very heavy inox tube (140
kilos) as reinforcement of the entrance of the Emotions. We found the beautifully
decorated Salle des Colonnes after a climb in the Salle Prut. Discovery
of the respectable Galerie Cueva. Also surveying, working at the gate and
visits.
* Cueva's Musselparty.
MARCH
* Emotions : small discoveries : Salle Lapiaz, Jolie Petite Salle. Surveying.
After the meeting with the forester, we decided, with pain in the hart,
to stop the exploration of the Emotions 'till we got permission of the owners.
Nobody then could have thought how long this would take and how much trouble
this would mean...
* Great Avalon Party, already the fourth !
* And again we are working in the system of the Weron-Dellieux. A killing
13 hour-trip in the Réseau Nord was necessary to survey and re-explore the
new Salle des Sales Amis. We also surveyed the complete Système D and the
jonction.
* A few brave men started again digging in the Grotte Joseph 2 (not a lot
of results). We also visited Grotte Strauss again.
* Co-operation at the gate of the Grotte de Warre: half a day dragging with
iron bars. That day we also visited the Grotte Nys, together with Kim and
Ellen.
* ? continue toujours dans la Grande Evasion (Eglise)... another 2 meters!
* 5 members went for three days to the Meuse in France and did three fine
caving trips (especially the Beva was good).
APRIL
* Unbelievable : after four years we visited again the Reso B in the Chawresse.
Of course we worked. We started again in the notorious "spleet" (narrow
rif) and already after two weekends we broke through it : it ended above
a P10.
* Guided tour of two persons in the Nou Moulin.
* Some "tough" guys of our club did so childish that a visit at the Chantoir
de Kin was spoiled (the cave was very wet indeed). We did some excersises
in the quarry of Aywaille to save the day.
* A lot of work in the Trou du Renard in the region of Dinant.
MAY
* We descended the P10 in the Chawresse, tricky ! It went on but was muddy
and semi-active with a big sump. The next trip we doubled the distance,
together 153 m.
* Ten days in the H?ault (France), together with Cueva. A very beautiful
place to camp, very good weather and much variety in the caves : Aven de
la Dame, Aven du Pas de Madame, Grotte duSergent, Aven des Huttes, Event
de Rogn?, Grotte du Garrel, Pic Baudille ->Licorne, Aven de la Portalerie..!
* Also in France : Visit of the de Perte des Mazurettes.
* And again a duo did the Nou-Moulin.
* First trials in the Bois de Waerimont, with the grot-o-foon (cave
radio) build by Herman
JUNE
* The classic part of the Weron was surveyed again in two weekends time.
This was done to check the map of the Weron-Dellieux. Also in the Dellieux,
Jaak en Co climbed a chimney in the Système D. And also measurements with
the cave-radio.
* A very heavy trip in the Chawresse. We surveyed and pushed the new part
we found a bit further. It is now connected with the "Appendice".
* Convincing test with the caver-radio in the Weron (100 m depth), later
repeated in the Sainte-Anne.
* Because of the very dry spring : the annual trough-trip of our Bretaye,
very early in the year indeed. And we even found a new passage (Galerie
Panique) after passing through an extreme (2 cm air over a distance of 3
m) duck.
* After an agreement with the forester we could visit the Emotions for one
time : we surveyed the lowest part of the cave.
JULY
* A survey of the surface of the Weron-Dellieux enabled us to finish the
map.
* Emotions: Cleaning of the muddy passage under Salle des Douze (useless
as we later found out).
* Colleague Yves Dubois proudly showed us his discovery : the enormous continuation
in the Chantoir de B?on-Ry. Very impressive indeed for us belgian cavers!
* Summer holiday in Spain, at Arredondo (El Capital del Mundo). Highlight
was the Cueto-Coventosa through-trip, lightning fast because there was danger
of flooding. But we also visited other beautiful cave-systems : Torca del
Carlista (biggest chamber of Europe), Canuela etc. We won't say too much
about the weather.
* The thoughest of us went to the Picos where they continued explorations
in the first flemish -1000, the Pozo del Madejuno.
AUGUST
*Surveying the never ending extreme muddy lower parts of the Emotions is
really depressing : L'Entonnoir, Galerie Horrible, Salle du Collecteur,
nearly 1800 meter. We explored again the Labyrinth and also the dangerous
zone above the Salle de l'Entonnoir. We installed an aluminium ladder in
the climb to the Galerie des Gours. Between brackets: we finally got our
official permission to work in the Emotions. We also put steps under the
Salle des 12 and a second shunt was made in the direction of the Labyrinth.
* Annette and Jaak climbed in the Systeme D (Dellieux).
* Guy and Rik went caving to Jamaica and mapped some kilometers of new galleries
of the Potoo Hole.
* We also did the Abime de Lesves and the Maye-Crev? a small but beautiful
cave at Aisne.
SEPTEMBER
* Tricky caving trip in the Weron-Dellieux. Anyway, taking MARC COOLS, who
was on a holiday in Belgium, in that cave is asking for trouble...
* Very high waterlevels in the Emotions : swimming !! In the valley we dug
open several sinkholes. In the cave we worked in the sector of the Salle
Limace.
* We helped with an exposition about caves in Mont-sur-Meuse.
* Chawresse: indescribable drudgery in the muddy sump in the Réso B (Rudi,
Paul).
* A trio did the Trou de la Loutre (pleasant but wet cave). They even discovered
30 meter of new passages. The survey will be for the summer of 1997!
* Co-operation with the youth-caving-program of the VVS (Wilfried)
OKTOBER
* Emotions: 20 meter of new passages was discovered in the Galerie
Cueva. The complete Labyrinth was surveyed. The Salle des Douze was cleaned
and all formations protectd by means of thin red rope.
* Paul and Koen worked in the Réseau Noir (Weron).
* We helped the guys of N.T.S.. Together with Patrick they found a new part
in the Grotte du Malacord.
* And again the B?on-Ry (together with NTS).
* Digging several times in the valley of the xxx.
* A big gang of cavers did the Galerie des Sources.
NOVEMBER
* We stayed a week in England together with Cueva. We had a good time and
did a lot of caves despite the bad weather.
* Emotions: several days cleaning and taping off formations. Guy en Rik
did a big surface-survey.
* Family De Bie and friends of Koen visited the Sainte Anne.
* On request of the SCB we did a VLF-radiolocation in Hotton.
* Wilfried and Mark did the Chawresse.
* And another two meter digging in the Eglise (Grande Evasion). And a problem,
the fissure where we dump the earth, is choked. Three weeks later a trio
solved this problem with 60 m of gardenhose and a lot of water.
* Wet visit at Rouge Thiers.
DECEMBER
* Some artificial climbing in the Emotions gives us again another 30 metres.
Because of an official presentation more than 350 slides are taken in the
cave in a period of several weekends. Paul shows the cave to two geologists
(Ek and Dusar). And a day is spent cleaning en marking the cave.
* And to end the year in beauty, Paul and Annette did an artificial climb
in the big aven of the Dellieux. 32 m free and so one of the biggest of
Belgium. At the top it is choked up, but a week later Paul and Jaak are
back to survey it. With a car-horn they also tried to locate the pit from
within the entrance zone (negative).
* We also did a lot of prospection in the Ardennes (because of the extreme
cold weather).
CONCLUSION
As usual a hyperactive year, with the emphasis on the fantastic exploration
of the Grotte des Emotions (2000 m). It was in this cave not always big
fun and there were a lot of dull days spend with surveying, marking, cleaning,
putting in a gate,… And also all the paperwork about the cave (permissions,
protection) of the cave was very difficult (for me) and it is not over yet.
But Avalon passed this year the 6000m mark , so why should complain!
And beside the explorations, we also did a lot of "classical" caving
(for the younger clubmembers). So as a last word, I hope that 1997 shall
be as successful as 1996 and I hope that the Emotions gets its official
rights and will be protected for ever.
Paul De Bie , President
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