Forat de la Trona

A 23-metre-deep pit in the Montsec d'Ares (Àger), located and explored by the GRE de Balaguer on 30 March 1972 and rediscovered on 15 September 2024.

Àger • Noguera 56m 23m

EspeleoWorld

Forat de la Trona

A 23-metre-deep pit in the Montsec d'Ares (Àger), located and explored by the GRE de Balaguer on 30 March 1972 and rediscovered on 15 September 2024.

Àger · Noguera

Length: 56 m · Depth: 23 m

Updated record

https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/forat-de-la-trona

Information can change. Always verify coordinates, access, weather, and cave conditions before setting out.

Topographic map of the main entrance — Main entrance · ICGC topographic map

A 23-metre-deep pit in the Montsec d'Ares (Àger), located and explored by the GRE de Balaguer on 30 March 1972 and rediscovered on 15 September 2024.

Characteristics

Type: Pothole
Municipality: Àger
Region: Noguera
Unit: Montsec d'Ares
Length: 56 meters
Depth: 23 meters
Major Unit: Prepirineu
Lithology: Limestone
Updated on EspeleoÍndex: September 29, 2024

Location

It can be reached from the upper part of the Montsec d'Ares via the path used by climbers descending from the walls, through the Grau de l'Onso de Ponent, as far as the Plana d'en Lluís or de Sant Llorenç.

If we set out from the Plana d'en Lluís, we climb following this same path until, as we approach the base of the walls, there is a cairn and a small path heading off to the left (NW); this path quickly brings us up against the walls, and we follow it until we find ourselves at a small col between the wall and a needle. The cavity is located after the wall where the climbing routes Homo Montrebeianus, Crosta d'Ivory, etc. are found, and a little before the route Petit Diedre.

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

Forat de la Trona
Elevation: 1245 m
42.060189, 0.690818
UTM 31T (ETRS89) 308934 4659039
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Topographic

Forat de la Trona - Topography, Àger, Noguera

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Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

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Photos

Forat de la Trona - Photo, Àger, Noguera

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Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

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Description

Morphology

The entrance gives access to a 5-metre pit; at its base, following the gallery in a NE direction, we reach a 4-metre pit between blocks, followed by a 4.5-metre pit; a short ledge places us at a new 3.5-metre pit, at the base of which a ramp leads us to the lowest point of the cavity at -23 metres. On one side of the final chamber a rather narrow fissure continues downwards; at present this is not accessible.

History

Cavity located and explored by the GRE de Balaguer on 30 March 1972. In 2006, members of the SIE-CEA, knowing of its existence, searched for it without success; they only located the nearby Escletxa de la Trona, also explored in 1972 by the GRE de Balaguer.

On 15 September 2024, Dani Brugarolas found the cavity while he was going to climb the route Homo Montrebeianus, which is right next to the entrance of the cavity; he passed the information on to Jordi Francès, Joan Carles Juderias and Josep Guarro, who went there the following Sunday, 22-09-2024, to carry out the exploration and take data for the cataloguing of the cavity, which has remained unpublished in all catalogues published up to the present day.