Oxford University Cave Club

18th July 2002 - from Paul Garver by email

Mmm mmm. Lovely and sunny here.

The internet cafe in Cangas has moved and we've only just found the new one, but we should be able to check emails from now on.

So, the news:

Storm cave is getting bigger. Much bigger. The entrance pitch series only goes down another 30m or so from last year's exploration limit, dropping into a large chamber full of boulders, with several holes that all seem to funnel you down into another 25/30m climb down in a narrow chossy rift to a rather unpromising tight rift crawl just above the stream (distances are somewhat approximate; the new areas should be being surveyed even as I type).

After this particularly minging section (which turns out not to be very long), however, the passage pops out 6m above the floor in a chamber with a boulder choke at the bottom and ways on in the opposite wall. Beyond this the passage seems to get bigger and bigger the further you go, developing into a huge, largely horizontal phreatic level with some interesting metallic-grey mud that I don't think I have seen anywhere else. It is big. Oh yes, it is big. And slightly maze-like. So far we have found three promising ways down and (briefly) descended one of them (a 20m pitch about 30m in diameter in a chamber the size of St Paul's Cathedral), and there appear to be several ways on from the base of it.

So, Storm Cave is going. With a vengeance. If you were considering coming to expedition this year but were reluctant to commit yourself because you didn't trust the primary lead not to die immediately, come along and explore the most promising new cave found by OUCC in years!

Incidentally, we said goodbye to our polish friends today. Their attempt at linking C4 to 2/7 with a dive failed at the penultimate hurdle, when they couldn't squeeze their diving gear through the tight section a mere 20m from the sump!

Wish you were here,

Paul