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French Caving Terms

Accede            - leads to
Affluent            - inlet
Allure               - appearance
Amarrage         - belay/rebelay
Amont              - upstream
Argileux           - muddy or clayey
Au-dessous      - underneath
Aval                 - downstream
Bas                   - low
Bateau              - boat
Bloc coince       - jammed block
Boyau               - crawl
C                      - on survey indicates climb up, with height
Calcaire            - limestone
Canot pneumatique   - rubber dinghy
Carrefour           -  cross road or junction
Cascade            - climb, generally upwards
Chatriere            - squeeze (may be hands and knees crawl)
Collecteur          - streamway (not necessarily active)
Coloration          - dye test
Concretion          - formations
Conduite forcee  - phreatic passage
Corde                 - rope
Cordelette de rappel  - abseiling rope
Coulee barrage    - stal blockage requiring an up and over climb
Coupe                 - section (survey)
Courant d’air       - current of air
Crue                    - flood
Developpement    - length
Diaclase               - vertical joint or fault
Dessobstruction   - ex-obstruction
Doline                  - shakehole
Dynamite              - blasted
Eau                      - water
Eboulis                 - rocks/boulder choke
Echelle                 - ladder
Effondremont       - collapse
Entree                  - entrance
Escalade              - climb
Etiage                  - low water
Etroite                  - tight
Faille                    - fault
Falaise                 - cliff
Fiche d’equipment  - tackle list
Fils des fer           - traverse cables
Fistules/fistuleuse  - straws
Fond                    - bottom or back
Foret                    - forest
Fractionment        - rebelay
Glaciere               - ice cave
Gouffre                - pothole (usually starts vertical)
Grotte                  - cave (usually starts horizontally)
Goule                   - rising/resurgence
Humide                - damp/dank
Itineraire               - route
Lac                      - lake
Laminoir               - bedding plane
Lapiaz                  - limestone pavement
Libre                    - free
Lucarne                - rock window
Marmite               - deep circular pool (usually in streamway)
Meandre              - narrow twisty passage often requiring traversing
Mis en charge       - fills with water/liable to flood in unstable weather
Orage                   - storm
P                          - on survey indicates pitch, with depth
Parcours               - journey/route
Paroi                    - wall
Perd dans             - disappears into
Peu de                  - few
Plafond                 - ceiling/roof
Plan d’eau             - deep canal
Plaquette               - hanger
Plongeur               - diver
Pontonniere          - chest high waders with shoulder straps
Porche                 - large entrance
Profondeur           - depth
Prolongation         - extension
Puit                      - pitch
Quatre pattes       - on all fours (crawling)
R                         - on survey indicates climb down, with depth
Raide                   - steep/daring
Rapel                   - abseil
Remonter             - climb back up to
Reseau                 - system/series
Ressault               - climb (generally downwards)
Rognons              - chert nodules
Rolars                  - belay/rebelay (literally a breather)
Salle                     - chamber
Scialet                  - another term for a gouffre
Shunt                   - bypass (alternate passage)
Silex                    -  flint nodule
Siphon                 - sump
Souterrain            - underground
Speleo                 - caver
Spit                      - bolt
Surplomb             - overhang
Thalweg               - dry river bed/small valley/fault line
Topo                   - survey
Traversee             - traverse
Tremie                 - boulder choke
Treuil                   - winch
Troncon               - section
Trou souffleur       - draughting hole/blowhole
Vagues d’erosion  - scallop marks
Vire                      - ledge