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Sistema de la Bargadèra

Sistema de la Bargadèra

Es tracta de la cavitat de major desnivell de Catalunya, situada a Escunhau, Vielha.

Vielha e Mijaran • Val d'Aran2100m571m

Catalonia's cave with the greatest vertical drop, at Escunhau, Vielha. The system links the avenc de la Bargadèra and the horat des Lòses (CE-6), with a vertical drop of -571 metres.

Characteristics

Location

The cave is at Escunhau, Vielha. Leaving the village of Escunhau, follow the track that goes up the barranc de la Bargadèra until reaching the plèta dera Lana; from there continue up the barranc until reaching the estanhot d'Escunhau. Once at the foot of the lake, the lower entrance of the system can be seen ahead, a hole halfway up a cliff within a gully about 85 metres above the lake. Climb up the scree slope and up the gully to the entrance of the avenc de la Bargadèra. The upper entrance is the horat des Lòses (CE-6), which is found on the upper platforms located to the S of the Bargadèra, on the N slope of the Cap dera Aubeta, near the area known as Es Lòses.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Lòses, Horat de

    Elevation: 2269 m

    42.649980, 0.826790
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 321953 4724440
  2. Avenc de la Bargadèra

    Elevation: 2111 m

    42.652030, 0.826080
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 321901 4724668
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Sistema de la Bargadèra - Photo, Vielha e Mijaran, Val d'AranView image
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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 lower entrance (avenc de la Bargadèra) is 2.5x2.5 metres and leads to a gallery with a steep incline. On the right-hand side of a narrow passage a strong draught indicates the continuation. One follows a gallery until after about 50 metres a narrow joint is reached where a strong draught blows; once past this point we find the link of the system by means of an E-11 metres that climbs up towards the upper entrance or else a pit of -26 metres to continue descending the system. The access through the upper entrance (horat des Lòses), which had to be dug open, begins with a pit of 11 metres, continuing through a series of drops, short galleries and an 8-metre climb until reaching the pou de Sant Joan with a vertical drop of -49 metres; at its base, 25x15 metres and very steep, we find a branch towards the W with no continuation, which allows us to reach -106 metres. If we continue towards the E we will reach the point of the junction with the part of the avenc de la Bargadèra that was already known. From here we again find short pits and drops, passing through the Gran Xemeneia (E+59) to continue through the Galeries Superiors, where a new access with a P-11 allows access as far as the entrance of the avenc de la Bargadèra, avoiding the initial narrow passages. The system continues deepening with a pit of -26 metres divided into two sections, followed by another P-13, some drops and a P-16 (Pou de la Pasterada), a new drop and a P-20 that places us at -270 metres relative to the upper entrance; at this point we find some galleries with two parallel pits of -33 m and -36 m respectively, the latter being the Pou de les llastres. Then a straight joint with a steep incline and various narrow passages and a drop of about 7 metres place us in the Pou del Bivac of -16 metres. From here the meander zone must be overcome, where we find the Pas del Bloc, which was the end of exploration in 1987, and a few metres further on the exploration ended in 2005. The cave continues with a series of small pits until reaching the -450 m level, where we find a P-23, followed by a P-19 (Pou del Marbre), a new drop places us in the last pit of -45 metres, new drops allow us to reach -571 metres where for the moment the exploration of the system has been considered finished.

Hydrology

It seems proven that the outflow of the waters of the system takes place, totally or partially, through the Surgència de Lastoar (Naut Aran).

History

The GIEG located and explored the avenc de la Bargadèra in August 1986. In 1987 they reached the maximum depth of -236 metres and explored the upper gallery up to +58 metres. In 1988 they explored a small route in the terminal sector. In the late 1990s the GIEG and the GREC created the Col·lectiu Escunhau, and in 1998 the first exploration attempts were made with the first diggings at the CE-6. It was not until late 2004 that intense digging work allowed the entrance to be widened and the interior of the cave to be accessed, but snowfalls interrupted the explorations. On the first weekend of July 2005, with a large deployment of resources and personnel, both caves were entered and the link was achieved after cleaning and widening a couple of passages between blocks; the vertical drop of the new system stood at -400 metres. In 2006 new explorations, carrying out difficult diggings at the bottom of the cave, allowed the depth of -571 metres to be reached.

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Bibliography

  1. Cardona i Oliván, Ferran.(1989).-”La serralada pirinenca”. Grans Cavitats de Catalunya (Primer volum):1-198. Espeleo Club de Gràcia. Barcelona.
  2. GIEG-EDES (2005).-”Campaña Bargadera – 2005”. Memoria de Campaña (inédito) pp:1-20. Archivo FEE.
  3. GIEG-EDES (2005).-”Campanya Bargadera 2005”. EspeleoCat (4):23-27. Federació Catalana d'Espeleologia. Barcelona.

Fotografies de Jordi Icart extret de memòries de campanyes i articles de premsa, així com la topografia.

Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/