More details to follow but a quick taster Cueva del Nacimiento – new height reached at back end of cave Fallen Bear – new leads discovered Torca de la Carneros – possible leads on hill above Tresviso Cueva de la Marniosa – Sump 2 (previously undived) passed last night… Oh and Pozo Castillo –…
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One of the objectives of the 2017 expedition is the aid climb of an 80m aven, in Cueva de la Marniosa. Unfortunately, the aven lies beyond a sump, so divers are required to pass the sump before attempting the climb beyond. The climbing of the aven is more for the desire to connect to any…
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Cueva del Nacimiento Draughting hole at end of Jurassic World, was hammered and dug out for 4 hours. No progress made. Easy sand gave way to large sections of calcite. Long term dig. Dinosaur Aven, climbed to a height of 50m, narrow to impenetrable draughting crack Iam Not into Yoga another aven above Die Hard…
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Just up valley from Agua is Cueva del Marniosa, a 4k + system that is probably hydrologically connected (although never proven) to Agua. A number of pitches and decorated chambers lead to the main streamway. Plans had been made this year to dive the downstream sump (approx. 20m long) with a view to look at…
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Yesterday three teams entered Marniosa (2pm) with all three initially helping with the transport of dive cylinders to the top of the short pitch down into the main streamway. Russ and Nick then headed back towards the entrance photographing the cave. Russ has a proper camera with fancy flash units so has captured some pretty…
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Derek and Duncan completed the rest of the rigging to the stream way. On the way out we took a few photos to capture the beauty of the cave. Beyond the biggest pitch (22m) Marniosa is stuffed full of formations, here is just one example of what is in this cave.
Today after a very late start, Emily, David, Derek and Duncan left for Marniosa. The 40 minute walk from the top of the sobra valley was pleasant, get into the cave was not fighting our way through brambles and gorse… I (Duncan) had been the only person to have previously visited the cave and thus…
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So what has been happening between the last years trip and the imminent new one? The 2011 trip ended on a relative high, despite not being able to get a chance to scale the climbs at the limit of exploration, Cueva del Nacimiento had been rigged to the limit of exploration, a lot harder job than was…
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I guess the obvious question is why did LUSS and now the SWCC spend most of their summer, grovelling around in the cold and damp caves of the Picos, covered in mud and grit, tired hungry and generally miserable? I’m not going to go into the usual arguments around, exploration, adventure, ‘because it’s there’ etc. but the following post…
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