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CAVING IN BELGIUM: THE BELGIAN CAVE GUIDE
Chantoir de KIN - Aywaille (No. 13)
LOCATION:
Province: LIEGE
Locality: Aywaille
Coordinates: X=244.300 Y=129.190 Z=210m
Map: 49/3
In Aywaille, take the road to the tiny village of Kin. Leave the
village in Eastern direction. The road ends in the woods. Leave
the car there (not in the old quarry!). The cave is situated in a
sinkhole, in the middle of the pastures, about 300 m East of Kin.
HISTORY:
Little is known about the history of this cave, since an official publication
was never made. It was explored by the "CASA" of Aywaille, in
1976. The first exploration was made by G. Robert, A. Modave and M.
Maréchal.
ACCESS:
The cave is now closed with a door and the popular "UBS-padlock".
Please be as discrete as possible: the cave is situated very close to the
village and you have to traverse the pastures. Keep the party small
and park the car correctly.
DESCRIPTION:
Length: 604m, Depth: 53m
This is a very active sinkhole, in which water pours down from everywhere.
You won't get down dry, that's for sure! The entrance pitch
(about 6 m deep) can already be very wet. At the bottom there
are three possibilities:
- Go straight down, in a hole in the floor in which a part of the
water will go down as well. You will need a rope since this is
a vertical pitch of about 10 metres. You arrive in the Salle
Cri-cri (where the Réseau Marcel also starts) that leads to the Salle
Troisfontaine.
- Follow down the obvious slope (toboggan), where normally the rest
of the water runs down. After a complex zone (boulders) you arrive
at the Puits du Vieux Hanneton, about 20 m deep. At the bottom
you rejoin the Salle Troisfontaine. There is however another possibility:
near the top of the Puits du Vieux Hanneton, a gallery leads to
the Puits Arlette, at mid-height.
- The classic way down , to the terminal sump of the cave, is the
least obvious: you must find the continuation of the rift, at the bottom
of the entrance pitch. Often, this means a shower since you have
to step through the waterfall. The rest of the way is easy;
just follow until you reach the top of the beautiful Puits Arlette,
a 20 m deep pitch. Very nice, clean washed by the water.
At the bottom of the pitch, you can follow until you reach the final
sump. On the
way back, you can take the first gallery on the right, where you can
take a look in the Réseau de la Bougie.
RIGGING:
- a 15 m rope to get down the entrance pitch
- One 30 m rope will allow you to take either way down
COMMENT:
This cave is VERY FLOOD-PRONE! Don't enter it in rainy weather or
when the weather forecast predicts rain. In case of high water, it
is impossible to get out of the entrance pitches. Be careful!
SURVEY: Click
here to see the survey
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