La Balme sous la Matte

La Balme has several entrances, the most obvious being a wide porch (entrance 2). On the left, an earthy gallery soon ends after a small chamber, except for a small side passage that connects with the outside downstream of the porch (entrance 1). On the right, one emerges again in the small cliff where the cave opens (entrance 3), where one goes in perpendicular to the valley, into a narrow ascending crawl. a dynamited constriction leads to a small niche whose floor is pierced by an orifice of 0.40 x 0.80 m, the top of a 4-metre drop. It is a view onto an upper gallery in a joint. At the bottom of the drop, a low earthy conduit leads back towards the entrance. On the other side, the continuation of the cave is reached by descending another drop, below the R 4, or by setting off to the left; this section seems to be a gallery of the main gallery, forming a loop cut by the conduit coming from the outside.

At the point where one descends to join the main gallery, one is in a fairly vast space (height greater than 3 m). The floor is sloping, earthy and descends towards the north-east. The gallery is meandering, although following a fairly straight line; it is high and rather narrow, with various overdeepening phenomena, ledges and remnants of fill (pebbles) held in places by calcite. After 30 m, one passes an enlarged constriction in speleothems; behind it, a bifid chimney, in a forced conduit, rises for 7 metres. The gallery makes a bend to the right, a narrow passage has been opened between columns, on a bulge of calcite that obstructs the conduit. On the other side, one leaves an ascent of a few metres that is on the right; one must descend from a ledge on which one had stepped to regain the earthy floor of the gallery, which then makes a bend to the left. One finally emerges into a pretty small domed chamber, very decorated; on its left, it is topped by a chimney. At the back, a passage between plates of calcited earth soon becomes too narrow. The gallery, in keyhole form, is high at the start, more than 5 m, then ends at a wall; one must climb 4 m higher and pass between the blocks to emerge onto a flat, in front of the salle de la Céphalée.

The salle de la Céphalée is a suspended chamber, slightly sloping; at the start, it is topped by the blocks that allow the traverse. Descending into the chamber, one passes under a vault that lowers, to rise again behind. This high point (+11) is certainly very close to the surface of the plateau. Opposite, a constriction a little higher up leads to a low decorated gallery; a constriction almost facing the first leads back into the chamber.

At the Grelots, a descent cluttered with curious flat slabs, evoking Slate, leads to a descending constriction, fairly tight. The descent continues in a low conduit; one arrives on a suspended floor made of a remnant of heterogeneous fill, a manhole allows one to pass underneath. Progression is by a series of ascending bends in a forced conduit, to emerge into a pretty sloping chamber. Towards the top, a passage in the speleothems ends after a few metres at a fill; this upper part of the chamber widens on the left, while remaining low, and stops at an impenetrable crawl. Towards the bottom, a narrow meandering passage allows one to descend into a small chamber. On the right, a constriction was dynamited because of a draught coming from it; it leads to a short gallery dug inside an ancient pebble fill. On the floor, a tiny hole has been enlarged, leading to a crawl of a few metres, which ends at a small impenetrable niche. The terminus of the Grelots is to the left of the small chamber: a lowered passage, a short gallery, and one arrives in a decorated recess, which ends in the beginning of a descending meander, very narrow, probably blocked (no air).

The main gallery presents a fairly abundant speleothem formation. The bifid chimney, in a forced conduit, is adorned with stalactites. One can observe in places, on the ceiling, pebbles caught in the calcite. The small domed chamber is very decorated. a side passage is obstructed by a floor of microgours. In the salle de la Céphalée, a constriction a little higher up is gained by climbing on bulges of calcite. At the Grelots, the pretty sloping chamber has a floor entirely made of microgours.

The continuation of the cave is reached by descending another drop, below the R 4, or by setting off to the left. Instead of taking the descending part, one can set off to the left. a high traverse, helped by a few enormous wedged blocks, leads to the suspended salle de la Céphalée. To reach the lower part of the chamber, one must descend a drop from the flat. a climb of 6 m at this point yielded nothing. The continuation, named « Les Grelots », obliges one to take a trou ouvert in the floor, at the bottom of the chamber.

a dog skeleton is observed at the point where the sloping floor descends towards the north-east. The salle de la Céphalée owes its name to terrible headaches due to dynamiting. It contains a thick layer of guano, apparently ancient. a draught is noticeable in this part; it probably comes from a short ascending gallery, blocked by a collapse, which is reached by a lowered passage on the left. In the small chamber of the Grelots, on the floor, were found the bells of a dog collar, arrived there God knows how. From there, one can hear blows struck at the emergence into the gallery, when one comes from the outside; a connection through fissures would explain the air movements.