
Avenc del Xalau
Avenc de 35 m. de fondària i 175 m. de recorregut a Vilaverd (Muntanyes de Prades)
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Avenc del Xalau
Avenc de 35 m. de fondària i 175 m. de recorregut a Vilaverd (Muntanyes de Prades)
Vilaverd · Conca de Barberà
Length: 175 m · Depth: 35 m
Updated record
https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/avenc-del-xalau
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A 35 m deep pit with 175 m of passage in Vilaverd, in the Muntanyes de Prades, with several entrances and an interior through-trip.
Topographic
Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.
Photos
Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.
Description
Morphology
Cavity set within two perpendicular fractures refilled by a large quantity of clastic products of considerable dimensions. In the normal access area of the pit there are three entrances; the southernmost one gives way to a small 3 metre pit followed by a short gallery that leads us to a second drop of about 4 metres. The second entrance is small and communicates through a vertical of about 10 metres with the central zone of the ramp coming from the first entrance. The third entrance (the main one) opens out, between immense blocks, into a 20 metre pit (depending on where the measurement is taken). A fourth entrance of reduced dimensions communicates with the outside and is where the new cota 0 of the pit is located.
Progression
On the left side a rope must be used, while on the right side a narrow passage allows us to descend without equipment; once at the base we find a wide gallery on a steep ramp. The gallery continues sloping and descends to a narrow descending conduit totally occupied by blocks and where the maximum depth is reached (-35 m). Halfway along the previous ramp, on the right we find a passage between some large blocks that place us below the main entrance. The access is made among some blocks that are before reaching the cova del Fang, and below the upper part of the pit entrance. This access places us on a ledge where we find Spits to rig a handline until reaching the head of the vertical, also equipped with spits. At its base a ramp gallery originates, at the end of which and climbing about 5 metres one accesses a perpendicular gallery with no continuation.
Once back at the five metre drop at the end of the ramp, on the left side one can access a small room followed by a narrow conduit where the cavity ended until 1993.
Once this narrowness of the hanging gallery is passed one can reach an ascending conduit formed by different chambers and galleries interconnected by small drops and narrow passages until reaching a wide hall from which a last conduit emerges that communicates with the outside through a fourth entrance of reduced dimensions and where the new cota 0 of the pit is located.
Currently, the through-trip of the cavity can be done between the Boca Superior and the Boca Inferior without the need for equipment, only with a short safety rope for the less skilled on some small drop. One must also take into account body diameter, if it passes through the Boca Superior it will also pass through the rest.
History
The first mention of this cavity is provided by Josep Iglésies in 1927 making a complete description of the cavity. We believe it was explored by excursionists from Reus a few years earlier.
We have no further news until around 1968 when members of the disappeared group Talps de Sabadell carry out a campaign in the area and explore it, renaming it as avenc de Prades.
In August 1973 a member of the ERE – CEC and two from the EPE de Reus survey it again (unpublished until now) and keep the name given by the Talps de Sabadell. When the second volume of the Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya (1978) is made, the original name of the cavity is recovered.
It is not, however, until November 1993, that members of the GIEM – CE Montblanc manage to open their way through the narrownesses of some hanging galleries near the end point and succeed in exploring an ascending gallery that leads to a new entrance located at a higher level than the others.
As an anecdote we find that during the 70s of the last century some unwise people, belonging to scout groups and other groups, coming from les Borges Blanques, Valls and Tarragona, leaving their lamentable mark inside the cavity in the form of enormous graffiti.
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Bibliography
Borràs, J.; Miñarro,JM.; Talavera, F. (1978).-Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya. Vol. 2 (l'Alt Camp, la Conca de Barberà,el Baix Penedès i el Tarragonès):246 pp. Ed. Poliglota. Barcelona.
Iglésies, J. (1927).- “Catalogació de coves i avencs de la vall del riu Brugent”. Revista del Centre de Lectura de Reus (173): 212-226. Reus.
SES – Talps (1969).- “Operació Serra de Prades”. Talps (1): 1-12. SES Talps – Centre Excursionista del Vallès. Sabadell.
Dades inèdites facilitades per Ramon Sendra (GIEM) l'any 1993.
Dades inèdites arxiu ERE – CEC.
Dades, coordenades i fotografies facilitades per Juli Serrano (SIE-CEA) i Francesc Rubinat (ERE-CEC). Maig de 2024.
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Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
