Aven du Grand Étrier

The small entrance is cut by a rock bridge. It gives access to a 9-metre shaft. There, a sloping ledge leads directly to an 83-metre nozzle-shaped shaft, whose dimensions range from 1.5 metres to 3 metres in diameter, at -92.

Next, a large 34-metre diaclase (joint) develops; it is intersected by ledges at -109 and -126. The bottom of the diaclase est reached at -136.

A narrow downclimb leads out, at -145, into a chamber; this is cluttered with large blocks and developed at the expense of a stratum. Large rises are clearly visible.

The small entrance, cut by a rock bridge, gives access to a 9-metre shaft. A sloping ledge leads directly to an 83-metre nozzle-shaped shaft, at -92. A large 34-metre diaclase (joint), intersected by ledges at -109 and -126, leads to the bottom of the diaclase at -136. A narrow downclimb leads out, at -145, into a chamber cluttered with large blocks.

Warning: rockfalls from the entrance down to -10, then tumbling down the P83.

Geology: Barremian with Urgonian facies.

Potential connection with the Aven Acheron: in January 1999, with an outside wind, the aven Acheron was blowing while the Grand Aven de l'Étrier was drawing air in. The entrance of the aven Acheron (cf. Fichier des cavités du Var, number 2127380 and Grottocenter, no. 28025) is located 10 metres lower in altitude than the entrance of the Grand aven de l'Étrier. Considering the respective depths (-165 and -152), the bottom of the aven Acheron is 23 metres lower than the bottom of the Grand aven de l'Étrier.

Sources: Article from the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipédia, in French (and access to other languages) > Barrémien: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barr%C3%A9mien ; Article from the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipédia, in French (and access to other languages) > Faciès (géologie): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faci%C3%A8s_(g%C3%A9ologie) ; Article from the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipédia, in French (and access to other languages) > Urgonien: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urgonien ; Guillaume CHARDIN - CDS83, Fichier des cavités du Var > "Grand aven de l'Étrier" (number 2127042): https://www.fichiertopo.fr/display.php?guid=86c06d3f-c553-4068-b699-b17fb27b6716 ; Guillaume CHARDIN - CDS83, Fichier des cavités du Var > "Aven Acheron" (number 2127380): https://www.fichiertopo.fr/display.php?guid=1babb5c6-b79f-4c40-a447-7bf448e4402b