Surveyed length 10km?
Height above entrance 392m?
Lat 43 14' 50" Long. 0 59' 30"
Location:100m West of Tresviso, on the Sotres track, is a
path leading down to the valley floor. Following this route for 1 500m
reaches the Urdon River. Agua entrance is behind an obvious dam and
canal on the oppposite side of the valley.
Description:Due to the complexity of the cave only the major
passages have been described. Many of the minor passages have been
omitted, from the survey, for clarity.
After a swim across the entrance dam, easy walking passage leads to a 5m tape down. From the bottom of the climb several ways lead on, all eventually meeting to the streamway. The stream sumps both upstream and downstream, but just before the upstream sump a low crawl, on the left, leads to an extensive maze of crawls and squeezes. (Only the most direct route is shown on the survey). All these passages eventually lead to a large phreatic passage.
At this point, and to the left, a large ascending phreatic tube goes via several climbs and a duck (which is frequently sumped), to the upper entrances. Route finding can be difficult.
The way on is over massive potholes in the floor and througha large bedding plane and collapse, until a short climb down into the Black Hole, is reached. The Black Hole is a confusing area of interconnecting passages, many of which lead down to the streamway, all eventually sumping. Navigation is hampered by a black, slippy deposit, which hides all distinguishing marks. However, climbing up to an orange flow on the far side of the Black Hole, leads to Clapham Junction.
Outer Mongolia is the largest passage leading off from the junction. A 10m diameter, slightly downhill passage, splits into a maze of sand and mudchoked side passages and chambers.
Turning right at Clapham Junction continues to a fork. The passage to the right opens into a chamber, called Bondi Beach, because of the presence of a huge white sandbank. The chamber slopes steeply down. Left at the fork gives access to the Roads to Ruin, a cleanwashed, stream passage with a keyhole cross-section. Sporting traverses and climbs in the vadose canyon open into the phreatic roof tube. On the right a sandy floored chamber provides a way into the Roads to Freedom. The continuation of the streamway (The Road to Certain Death) leads, via more traverses, to a chamber. At the far end of the chamber a 9m by 3m lake is perched above a 6m waterfall pitch. Water must enter this pool via a rift at the far end. Above it was an unclimbed pitch of at least 20m.
The main way on from Clapham Junction, is straight on and 100m up a steeply ascending tube. This is The Ramp, which requires a 75m handline. At the top of the Ramp, and to the left, a wide tube leads to the beautifully decorated Stalagmite Chamber. Here a 9m rope climb down, leads to the roof tube above the Road to Certain Death.
The main route from the top of The Ramp is up and to the right, which leads to a sndy passage, and a long hading rift. Awkward crawls can be avoided by ducking down to the right into the Bypass, just before the rift. The Bypass is a series of climbs, in and out of chambers connected by short, wide, sandy crawls. After one of these crawls a wide, steeply ascending tube goes up to the left. This is Orangeade Arcade, which leads over a series of orange mud covered flowstones, ending in a choke.
Both the Bypass and the hading rift continue into BOULDER HALL. A peg climb to the right of Boulder Hall leads to 400m of phreatic maze not yet pushed to conclusion. From the top left of Boulder Hall the passage continues until a junction is reaced. Down and to the left leads to the top of the Ramp. The main way on is a 9m climb (10m handline) followed by a 10m calcite slop (10m handline). At the top and to the right the passage soon tightens, but to the left it continues until the 22m pitch is reached. The head of the pitch is best laddered from an obvious belay 3m down on the right hand side.
Down from the bottom of the pitch the phreatic tube continues upwards passing several short climbs until an obvious calcite slope blocks the way. This can be freeclimbed on the right-hand side, but is best laddered (12m - lifeline not required). The passage continues as before until it appears to end at a second calcite flow. A difficult climb up the flow eventually leads to a small draughting hole (The Howling Hole). At the bottom of the climb the main way on is a small hole on the left hand wall, which leads down to a 5m pitch. From the bottome of the ladder a phreatic tube continues upwards, and eventually drops down and apparently chokes. However, about 10m back from the choke a smaller passage on the left-hand side leads to the draughting sump.
This 1m sump is easily dived and is followed by a series of climbs, the last of which is difficult and requires a 10m handline.
Along and to the right a 13m pitch drops into a chamber. The way on is in the opposite corner of the chamber (not towards the sound of water) and is a climb down into an old, dry, gour pool. A large rift climbs up, and carries on, past a well decorated chamber on the right-hand side called THE OASIS, up a short calcite flow, and over the top of a second, larger flow.
This leads into a large boulder filled chamber, which is followed down into a rift, and eventually to a 12m pitch into CONSORT HALL. At the opposite end of the chamber a sandy crawl leads into a large phreatic tube which continues past an intrusive stream to the bottom of the steep rift climb of RAMP II, which requires a 40m handline. The top of this ramp is a steep calcite slope which requires care.
The rift continues on over several calcite slopes, to the bottom of a 13m calcite flow, which can be free climbed 10m back into the rift. (This 13m pitch should be laddered and lined). At the top a large phreatic tube continues down to an obvious junction. Down eventually becomes too tight, but up continues through very old phreatic passage until it suddenly becomes much smaller. The smaller way on down, leads through tight rifts to a 17m pitch into a chamber with no way out.
However, where the passage becomes smaller, a climb up on the left leads to the bottom of a phreatic shaft, which requires pegging. This requires a 15m ladder. At the top of this climb is a large chamber, the obvious way on being a 45m broken pitch - which eventually chokes. The way on is through a door hole in the top of the calcite flows on the right-hand side, and down over boulders to a 6m pitch. A large phreatic passage now continues up. Some fine tree formations are reached, and just past these a climb up to the left leads to Dan's Big Room.
Straight on is a large, boulder filled chamber, to the top and left of which are several areas of fine formations. Carrying on furhter the passage eventually chokes with sand, but 12m into the roof another large ascending passage can be reached by a difficult over-henging peg climb. A maze of unexplored passages continues above.
Descend the 29m pitch, (before the 7m pitch to Dan's Big Room), followed closely bya 7m and 8m pitch. From the bottom of the last ladder a 12m pitch up the opposite side of the rift is ascended, this can be initially tackled by way of an awkward traverse above the 8m ladder climb. A few steps beyond the 12m pitch and the rift opens out into the boulder floored chamber called the HALL OF THE GREEN DOMINO. Ignoring the drop at the far left of the chamber, follow the right hand wall to an 11m pitch, from the base of which there are two main ways leading off; left to the GRAND CIRCLE route and right to the Bloody Lake.
From the BLOODY LAKE an 8m pitch up enters a window in a large calcite flow immediately followed by a 9m pitch down into a phreatic tube. Easy going, walking up and down in the passage eventually eneds at COLIN'S CLIMAX, the main streamway.
Turning left from the bottom of the 11m pitch proceed along dry boulder strewn passage with maze like proportions to a 22m pitch. The pitch is constructed at the top but later opens out into a large chamber. Large passages extend both right and left from the bottom of the pitch. The left hand passage soon develops into awkward walking passage, stumbling over boulders, climbing calcite flows and traversing holes that eventually drop into the streamway below. This passage, which appears to be a high level route in the roof of a streamway canyon, ends at an 11m pitch which drops down to a point where it is possible to traverse along the rift wall and step down to the streamway. A few metres below the 11m pitch a small passage enters from the right and following this for about five minutes leads into a phreatic tube going towards Colin's Climax.
Returning to the Hall of the Green Domino, a climb down between boulders before the 11m pitch leads to a chamber. A two metre climb up the far side has many small tubes heading away from it, most of which interconnect at various stages. At the northern end of the maze a rift opens into a chamber, the start of the GRAND CIRCLE. ALthough a possible free climb to the floor of this chamber is possible, a ladder certainly helps. A large phreatic tube at the far end of the chamber rapidly turns into a flat out crawl, opening out into a pleasant trading phreatic passage. Traversing around pools and stooping below formations eventually ends at a 12m pitch immediately followed by a 30m pitch.
Descending down to the bottom of the boulder slope, at the base of the pitch, the streamway is found; to the right is a large sump pool whilst to the left the water cascades down in a high rift.
The opposite direction at the bottom of the 30m pitch continues along a small rift, eventually emerging at the 9m RENDEZVOUS pitch, which lands in the sandy passage just prior to Colin's Climax. This point can also be reached by a climb above the 30m pitch which leads into a passage, also emerging at the head of the Rendevous pitch.
Climb up from the foot of the ladder that descends to the BLOODY LAKE from the HALL oF THE GREEN DOMINO into the maze. The marked route leads to a 22m pitch into a chamber. The right hand exit leads into a heavily calcited rift, followed by a 5m climb into a perched pool and then a 30m descending pitch (the so-called 150' Pitch). Two ways lead off. To the right by means of a slot and three pitches (10m, 10m and 8m) a small streamway is reached, which sumps in both directions. To the left from the foot of the 30m pitch you descend into a sandy chamber with a small stream sinking in the floor. A rift leads to a large cavern, also sandy with large rock pillars. There are several exits. On the left, a large rift can be followed for some distance but closes down. Following the wall clockwise several passages lead to oxbows or choke. At the far end of the chamber, a 17m pitch descends to the BOOMING CATACOMBS (this pitch can be by-passed by a crawl to the left of the pitch) which comprises a mud caked phreatic passage, deep with static pools. After about 150m this leads to a vertical shaft, completely flooded after 13m.
Following the phreatic route out of DAN'S BIG ROOM leads eventually to the choked TERMINAL CHAMBER. Below the climb up to the collapse area is a vertical slot which, though fairly constricted for the first 30m opens out and after about 100m reaches the BLOODY LAKE.
This shaft is also entered by the 'Windy Spruce' passage which leads off the GRAND CIRCLE on the Bloody Lake side to SCRAMBLED EGG CHAMBER.
A hole in the floor of SCRAMBLED EGG CHAMBER was descended for about 27m and finally reached part of the maze from which another 30m descent led to the start of the '150' series.
Continuing anti-clockwise around the GRAND CIRCLE, on the left, immediately before Aven Y-Y, a large passage (8m wide and 2m high) climbs steeply out of Flowstone Passage but decreases in sixe and finally drops into the Circle again at Aven X-X.
Following the phreatic passage out of DAN'S BIG ROOM brings you, after 20m, to a passage leading off to the right. Easy passage leads to a climb on treacherous calcite, and then a 10m bolt climb goives access to PORk SCRATCHING RIFT (17m high, 0.5m wide). From a small chamber the passage continues through a low arch into a chamber 30m by 30m, GLOVE CHAMBER. A 5m slope descends to a 13m pitch into the TERMINAL CHAMBER.
From Colin's Climax about 100m of swimming and traversing leads to an upstream sump. After 30m of traversing downstream the attempt was abandoned as too risky owing to the fast flowing water. the streamway below the traverse line was similarily impassable despite valiant attempts.
A steep, very large, partially decayed calcite flow descends into Flake Pitch Chamber. 100m of difficult climbing leads to a rift with a small stream, but this becomes too tight to follow. On far side of calcite squeezes, just beyond the Oasis a climb of about 50m led to tubes, all of which were choked with calcite.
About 30m up the Ramp, traverse across slope and follow steeply ascending branch passage ascending interesting muddy climbs. Resembles much of the Roads to Freedom in general appearance, but choked with calcite after about 50m.
LUSS Journal 1987. Vol.2. No.1.
Most important find was THE TEETH OF SATAN, a steep and draughting series of ramps above the Bloody Lake that were followed for 200m to a point well above and beyond the previous reaches of the cave. This series is a major project on its own and is believed to be the main way on towards the caves of the higher plateau.
