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ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORTS 
1994 Report


JANUARY
* Digging continues in the Eglise where we also did an artificial climb.
* The "spleet van Strauss" at Durbuy is tackled with a sledge hammer. Dye test in the E9 (chantoir).
* Walking-weekend at Hotton.
* Helping a BRT-television crew to make a reportage from within the cave of Hotton.
* Working in the VVS headquarters.
* Caves : Weron, St. Anne, Hohi?e.

FEBRUARY
* Digging continued in the Eglise, an airpipe was installed. We reached 16 m...
* Trip in the Galerie des Sources.
* Grotte du Chafour.
* Cueva's Musselparty.
* Working in the nature reserve in the region of Hamme (icy cold day).
* 2 x wallpapering in the VVS headquarters.

MARCH
* Working in the "spleet van de Strauss". Big surprise !! A 160 m long and beautiful cave is found. The floor is covered with bones of brown bears. Mapping and working took several weekends. Closure of the cave with a chain.
* Working in the Eglise. After the winterfloods, the sump we dug out in the Dury stayed clear.
* Much fun at our Avalon-party.
Caves : a trio did the Perseverance.

APRIL
* Survey of the region of the Grotte Strauss.
* Discovery of two small cave entrances above "Joseph", digging started.
* Big works in the Chantoir des Fagnoules, but not much hope. In the region we found a chantoir (Chantoir xxx), working started.
* Digging in the Eglise continues.
* Eastern weekend in the French Doubs. Nice caving in the Chauveroche and the Gros-Gadeau. Andr?got his french initiation.
* Visit during night in the **CENSOR** (extreme narrow entrance); a big and sporty cave. We visited the fossil series.
* Helping to clean the Galerie des Sources (removal of paint from the formations with high-pressure cleaners).

MAY
* Big prospection in Bomal in the valley of Pont-le-Pr?re. Marking and numbering of all entrances. Discovery of a small but heavy blowing rabbit burrow (E13).
* A new dye-test in the E9, this time we used "receivers". The test was positive after three days !
* The E9 is dug open. A little chamber was found where the river disappeared under a low roof.
* Digging in the burrow (E13) : after a few days we have made a big pit. Strauss gets a rock on his head...
* Caves :  Ten days in the Causses (France). The fine weather, the ambience and of course a lot of caves makes it a successful holiday : Baume Rousse (-166), Corgnes (-187), Patates (-255) enormous pits and a mega gallery (50x50), Dragoniera (with a memorable climb on a gravelslope), Sotch de la Tride (17 km and -300), an unbelievable labyrinth and finally the Aven des Pauvres with its 153 meter pit !
* Others :  Rainy walking-day with the children at Bomal and a trip in the Hohi?e.

JUNE
* Digging in the caves of Joseph at Bomal.
* Working in the Dury (Chem. de l'Echo).
* After digging four meters deep we reached the massif rock at the E13. Working continued for days and at last we reached a little room at a depth of six meters. Here a small pit of 5 m deep is found. After making things bigger we found a wide P11. The cave ended in a muddy boulder choke.
* Caves :  Guiding one person in the Eglise.
* Others :  Visiting the barbecue of SC33 in Chaleux. Fine organisation but bad weather.

JULY
* Many idle digging days in the boulder-choke of the E13.
* 3 x digging in the E9 (chantoir) and the caves near Joseph.
* In the trou Dury we forced our way through the Cheminee de l'Espoir, nothing interesting.
* Two keen noses found on the last day of July the continuation of the E13 (using burning  incense). Under the boulders was a pit !
* Caves :  We had a lot of fun in the exceptional Dellieux.
* Big through-trip in the Bretaye: spectacular.
* Guiding one person in the Weron.

AUGUST
* Fast desobstruction in the E13 reveiled big cave !! After a little pit and a slide we found a very big chamber (32x18m) with a deep lake. In a small side-chamber we detected an air current and began to dig like fools. We finally ended in a high aven.
* Digging in the cave above Joseph.
* Caves :  Two weeks in the Pyrenees, in the biggest cave of France : the Coume Ouarn?e, together with Cueva and the "Cochons". Great caving, some Hollanders got lost, fine weather, so everything was O.K....

SEPTEMBER
* Big operations in the E13: survey (already 200 m and -31m deep), VLF-location, climbing of a gallery above the lake,... In the recent discovered blowing aven a very dangerous dig in loose boulders began. After some weekends we got through the choke. It continued (50 m) and got even higher than the entrance-level ! Dirk Deroo dived in the lake, no big results but nice to see. Because of "pirates" the entrance was closed. We also observed strange oscillations in the lake.
* Digging in the E9 in a 8 meter long small gallery. Construction of a dam to keep the water out.
* Caves :  Big trip in the Galerie des Sources, we did nearly every part of it.
* Others :  An exploding desk chair gives Wilfried some weeks of sleepless nights and cancels all his cavingplans for the next six months.
* To much rain at the VVS barbecue at Leuven.

OCTOBER
* The SC33 placed a device to measure the water level in the E13. A rope is fixed across the lake. At the other side of the lake we found a 8 meter high chimney, but the end of it was too narrow over two meter. A big echo gave us hope !
After a day of desobstruction we reached the top of the chimney and through a kind of window we saw a beautiful chamber... But we had no rope ...
* Surveying of the last meters in the Eglise.
* Finishing the surface survey in the valley of Pont-le-Pr?re.
* Caves :  Grotte Bebronne, after cleaning of the cave by the UBS.
* An old one : Rouge Thiers.
* Visit at night (off course) in the **CENSOR**, this time we visited the active series.
* Our 2 new members visited the Eglise .
* Four passionated cavers went to Switserland and did the Gouffre du Chevrier, which was nearly flooded. Return to surface after reaching -400 because no ropes left in a white-water cave!
* Others :  SRT- training in the basilica of Koekelberg

NOVEMBER
* The day after the Chevrier we were back in the E13 exploring a beautiful chamber. The cave got its final name : the Grotte aux Contrastes. we baptised the beautiful chamber the "Salle du Dilemme" : how to protect it, indeed a difficult choice. The cave is bigger than expected : already more than 350 m ! The next weekends curious Avalonners visited and photographed the cave.
* The Eglise and Dury were visited again to take pictures and to make the latest adjustments to our survey.
* Big works in the Chantoir de Buc (in the region of Fagnoules), after some weekends halted (just after the discovery of a P3) by the landowner, a count who doesn't like cavers !!
* Digging in the Eglise in the gallery of the Babydoll.
* Bibiche invited us in the Bernard. Just under the entrance we used the "rock shaving method" in a small blowing crevice. Soon we found an enormous gallery : the Number One ! But after some days we discovered that it was in fact the Number Two !! We began to work in the meander under the Puits des Fous.
* Others :  Hiking in the region of Bomal.

DECEMBER
* Bernard Fever !! We discovered a 25 m pit, the "Puits du Pont", but it didn't continue. However, at the bottom of the Puits des Fous pit we forced the meander after some days work. It continued and we arrived in an enormous pit !! But it was the "Grand Puits" (part of the known Series). After all not bad.
* In the cave above Joseph digging continued. A small chamber was reached after 20 m but everything was blocked.
* Digging in the Babydoll (Eglise).
* Caves :  The through-trip of the Bernard !
 

CONCLUSION
1994 was a very good year for our club. We discovered two beautiful caves, the Grotte Strauss and the Grotte aux Contrastes (E13) and without too much trouble we drastically changed in only one month time the Trou Bernard. But it is a pity that despite of the big efforts in the Eglise, the Grotte Joseph and the E9 (chantoir) didn't reveal their secrets. But it can't always be jack pot and who knows what the future will bring !!
We did a lot and the fine thing is that we worked most of the time in more than one group, so our club is becoming more and more independent, a sign of maturity. The diggers did their thing and we also caved a lot.
We also developed a good cooperation with the people of SC33, particularly Guy. And the existing cooperation with Cueva was succesfully renewed.

Avalon already discovered over  3500 m ! Let's make it  4000 m !!! Our successes also have a positive effect on other VVS-clubs where they also begin with "real" exploration, and we are proud that we contributed to this !!

For 1995, I can only wish us an equally prosperous year.

 

 

 
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