A Caver's Guide

A Caver’s Guide to the Vercors

The following pages are intended to be a companion to the two guide books on the area: Speleo dans le Vercors Tome 1 (1997) and Tome 2 (1999) published by Edisud. The guide books split the Vercors into 9 “zones” based on the catchment areas of the known resurgences:

Zone 1: catchment des Cuves des Sassenage
Zone 2: catchment de Goule Noire
Zone 3: catchment des Coulmes and the Cirque de Choranche
Zone 4: catchment du Cholet
Zone 5: catchment du Bruyant
Zone 6: catchment de Goule Blanche
Zone 7: catchment de Goule Verte
Zone 8: catchment de l’Adouin and the cuvette d’Herbouilly
Zone 9: catchment d’Arbois - Bornillon

The following pages will provide information (in English) on each catchment area (zone) in order to help English cavers have a better understanding of each area. It is not the intention to reproduce rigging information already available from the guide books, but where applicable, updates will be provided.

Thanks are given to Edisud for their permission to use the zone diagrams in these pages.

Key:
GPS: UTM WGS 84
GSV: Group Speleologique Valentinois - caving club based in Valence who have been exploring the Vercors (and especially the Luire) since the 1940’s
Speleos: Journal of GSV
Scialet and LSD (le Speleos Dromois): The complete inventory of Vercors caves was published in (South) 1978 and (north) 1979. Since then updates have been published annually in Scialet (north) and LSD (south)
Entrance marked on map: with a black dot, which may include the word “Gouffre”, “Scialet” or the name of the cave.
RHCC (Radbroke Hall Caving Club): UK caving club comprised of members of Wendslydale Speleo Group (and future members of SV) that published an annual caving journal. Chapters that describe visits to the Vercors are being compiled in to the forthcoming SV Speleo Dossier1.
SV: Speleo Vercors