A team of cave divers ventured into one of the remote galleries of the Cocalière cave, in order to better map this part of the underground world.
The equipment is substantial. On the morning of this Saturday, January 17, six cavers, two women and four men from several clubs in Gard and Lozère (the SCSP of Alès, the GSBM of Bagnols-sur-Cèze and the TNT of Mende), are active in the parking lot of the Cocalière cave, in Courry north of Alès, closed to the public during the winter.
Helmet, head and hand lamps, wetsuit, ropes, harness… But also fins and compressed air bottles. Equipment that everyone shares on their backs during the descent via the carved stairs of the visitable part of the cave, to the entrance to a discreet passage, but very close to the visiting path: the well of the cave. 'Adventure. A gallery that plunges up to 80 meters below the surface of the earth.
Midi Libre – Paul Barraud
Midi Libre – Paul Barraud
Better “illuminate” the underground world
One by one, the team descends the wall, already equipped for climbing. The Adventure Well has already been visited by equivalent explorers in the past. But after the descent, we face hundreds of meters of gallery up to the Penez siphon, an even larger well. To get there, the team must equip themselves like underwater divers. The gallery is submerged in two distinct places. Two other siphons 200 and 300 meters long, separated by an emerged gallery about sixty meters long.
- Midi Libre – Paul Barraud
Midi Libre – Paul Barraud
An almost innocuous outing for Laurent Chalvet. A cave diver, this Lozerian co-manages the Cévennes Evasion company in Florac. His fifteen years of experience in the underworld makes him the informal leader of the expedition. For this day of exploration, no big risks or diving into the unknown: “We are here to redo the breadcrumbs of this gallery, already explored 40 years ago. At the time, speleologists had actually marked the path via an attached cable.” Valuable for tracking. “But since then, the wire has worn out, and even broken in some places.”
In December 2024, Laurent Chalvet had already visited this gallery to begin the renovation of the wire. Task that he wants to complete gradually, while carrying out a mapping exercise. For Christophe Bouquet, co-manager of the cave and son of the creator of the site Christian Bouquet, who had also explored many corners, the operation is essential: “We know this part a little, but it will allow us to have a precise plan of this part of the cave. Underground, we do not know the true directions of the galleries, just like those of the underground waters.”
After five hours of work, Laurent Chalvet and his companions managed to re-equip the first siphon. But due to lack of time and to avoid unnecessary risks, the team turned back at this point. “We will need two or three more dives” to re-equip the second submerged cavity and then arrive at the best-known point of this path. “The previous ones who went the furthest fell in front of a wall of rock that would then have to be climbed.” A not insurmountable challenge for Laurent Chalvet, “but here, I would have to come back with a friend to make the climb safe.” Projects which, in the times to come, should perhaps set back the unknown part of the Cocalière world.
