Expedition Name (& Club): Canal de Montico 2008 (OUCC)

Destination country: Spain
Region: Picos De Europa

Lat: 43.2727 Long: -4.9851 Elevation: m
MEF funding: none

Leader: Yifang Huang

Brief Expedition objectives:

List a short summary of the main Expedition objectives.

We aim to further explore Fisura Chica in the Picos De Europa range of Northern Spain. We will perform a dye trace between Chica, Asopladeru La Texa and the Culiembro resurgence. We will establish a satellite camp in the old Top Camp area to assess known open or formerly snow-plugged entrances.

How can the GPF support your Expedition?:

Please explain the aspects of the trip which make it eligible for Ghar Parau funding.

Over the years OUCC has pushed the caves in the Culiembro drainage hard learning more and more about the hydrology and speleology of this fascinating area. We now have two kilometre deep caves to our names and many other deep caves in the same locality, and have established the Picos as one of the richest areas for deep caves in the world. OUCC is almost unique among UK caving groups in that we introduce new cavers to the forefront of deep alpine exploration. We have a proven track record in developing new cavers who are now leaders in the field, and we hope to continue in this manner.

Detailed description of objectives:

Give a more detailed account of the purpose of the trip, including any particular known caves you intend to visit, specific areas where you will explore for new cave, and scientific experiments you will attempt.

We aim to further explore Fisura Chica, a cave discovered in 2003 on the flanks of Cabeza Chica mountain near the Canal del Montico in the Picos De Europa range of Northern Spain. The project furthers exploration undertaken over a number of years by Oxford University Cave Club to fully map caves feeding into the Culiembro resurgence and surroundings. It is hoped the cave will connect to a nearby pothole, Pozu Cabeza Muxa (-940 m), near to the downstream terminal sump. It is not clear where this will enter Muxa (if at all). Nearby caves explored by OUCC such as 2/7, Xitu, Tormenta and Asopladeru La Texa, have a fossil passage about 50 m above the active streamway. No such passage has been found in Muxa but such a discovery may bypass the terminal sump in Muxa. Speculation can only be confirmed or otherwise by exploration. Such a discovery would enable us to understand more fully the hydrology and speleology of this fascinating cave system. In addition, we will collaborate with another expedition to place Fluorescene dye in Fisura Chica in order to understand the route water takes from the cave to Culiembro. This will be compared with dye detectors in two known streams in Asopladeru La Texa and the Culiembro resurgence We also hope to establish a satellite camp in the Top Camp area, 3 km South West of the main camp in the Ario bowl. The team here will assess certain known open entrances and reexamining shafts that were previously filled with snow.

Previous work in this area:

Give details of any previous work in this area by your own and other teams. Include references to reports and articles published on the area, and the names of any local cavers or academics with whom you have discussed the Expedition.

OUCC has been exploring caves in the area for many years. Previous explorations are detailed in reports and Proceedings of Oxford University Cave Club. In particular, Fisura Chica was discovered in 2003 and explored on various expeditions up to the present. Details are available at www.oucc.org.uk. In addition, Spanish cavers of the Barcelona SIE and Polish cavers have also explored in the area. We expect that some of these Spanish cavers will join us in the Picos, as they have done on several recent expeditions.