Cave Pictures

Cave Pictures | Anialarra | Expedition and caving

Cave Pictures

A collection of cave pictures by Paul De Bie, with assistance of SC Avalon

Expedition and caving

Joy and deception, sun or rain, camping underground or in the middle of nowhere, extreme effort or lazing in the sun, friendship and teamspirit: this is what the Anialarra expeditions are about

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Inevitable...carrying stuff up the mountain	Early snow beginning of October	Looking for new caves	The area is vast (several square kilometers of lapiaz)	Holes and pits everywhere.
Carefully inspecting a new hole	Prospecting at the foot of Pic d'Anie, over 2500 m high	Every observation is inventoried	GPS is the best thing that ever happened to us here (without it would be impossible to find a cave back)
Preparing for a cave trip				After a cave trip, at 2350 m of altitude, sorting out gear
Looking for new caves in the winter season	Caught by a blizzard	The landscape is beautiful but dangerous: snow is covering thousands of deep cracks and pits.	In the winter, it is easy to find new caves: they blow out warm air which melts big holes in the snow.	But such blowholes must be approached with care: they can go down a long way
The hot air sometimes creates big caverns under the snow	Camping in the summer.. solid tents are necessarry because weather can change rapidly		Thick fog can appear in just minutes	Early snow can surprise you even in August
Camping in the winter is another piece of cake		In the early days before cellphones existed... radiocommunication with base camp in the valley	Collecting snow to make drinking water	Nights at this altitude can be freezing cold
Camping in the cave system at a depth of 600 m.	All comfort is there, the biggest problem is the cold (4°C)	Preparing for a very long trip in the farthest areas of the cave	Time no longer exists. At 3 AM in the morning, we discuss the exploration earlier that day	Decorations at Halloween
Placing a rock anchor.. by hand	Or with a battery-powered hammer-drill	The rest of the team patiently waits while the new pit is rigged and explored	In this cold cave, you need a lot of food to keep going. Regular stops are a must.	Climbing towards a (supposed) gallery near the roof
Some climbs go up 10 meters... others go up 50 and take several days to accomplish.	Dye-testing the river with fluoresceïne (a dye which is harmless for the environment)	Exploration fun... below this "squeeze" a 70 m deep pit opens	After 4 days underground, it is an incredible feeling to feel the sun again	Another stop, near -500 m into the cave.
Sun, rain or snow: the most important thing is to be happy	A major discovery has just been made: the team has discovered a giant new room. Everyone is happy.	Two caving teams meet each other. One coming out fo the cave after 4 days of succesful exploration, the other one going down to continue the work.	Another major discovery: after many years of exploration, Captain Haddock River is found. We are very satisfied.	All caving in the area is coordinated by ARSIP
Evey summer, all cavers meet and exchange information about their discoveries. No secrets here!	The big Manitou, summing up all explorations of that season.	Another expedition comes to an end. Despite the rain, we are all eager to come back.	In fact, most of the time when we have to break up the camp, it rains...	Still in love with the Anialarra Mountains (and with each other).

Any use of these images without explicit permission of the author is strictly prohibited