Perte de Socours

The entrance is a small 5-metre step adjoining the talweg of the ravin de la Grande Combe. This step is immediately followed by an 8-metre shaft (Puits des Tégévés). A few leads going nowhere accompany this vertical. The meander that follows the shaft, about twenty metres long, is relatively roomy. After this 20-metre meander begins the « méandre des 400 Coups », 50 metres long, most of which was enlarged artificially. It opens into the « Saut de la Puce », a small 5-metre vertical. At the base of this shaft, we are finally in big volume. Several climbs, called the « réseau des Monts », present themselves; they all stop at narrowings. The downstream of the « Saut de la Puce » leads directly into the « Saut de l’Ange », a vast 14-metre shaft, narrow at the start. At its base begins the méandre du second souffle, 40 metres long, which required a few one-off enlargements; its route nevertheless remains arduous with or without a kit. It ends with the « Saut de Géant », named thus not for its size, which is 3 metres, but for the continuation of the cave, which is monstrously large. This continuation begins with the « salle du Troisième Type », where several climbs of about twenty metres have been attempted. Then we find the « galerie de la Gigue », about 80 metres long, whose width varies from 3 to 5 metres, for a height of 2 to 4 metres. A little further on, we reach the end of the cave.

The « réseau des Monts » is adorned with magnificent flint nodules and shells. At the bottom of the « Saut de l’Ange », we discover numerous varieties of shells and other fossils. The « galerie de la Gigue » is adorned with a few beautiful concretions.

At the base of the puits des Tégévés, a temporary stream flows into the scree.

The entrance step can be rigged for beginners, but it is easy to climb up and down. There are no spits, but a tree could do the job for rigging. The handrail of the « Saut de la Puce » begins some 4 or 5 metres before the shaft, on the left-hand part of the wall. The small 3-metre step of the « Saut de Géant » nevertheless requires placing a fractionnement.

Updated rigging sheet 2022:
Entrance shaft and Puits des Tégévés: C25 - 1AN (tree) + 2S + 1dev on S (possibility of fractioning with a 2nd S).
Le saut de la puce: C18 - 2S + 1S + 2S
Le Saut de Géant: C25 - 2S + 2S