4th European Speleological Conference, Villard en Lans

Yesterday while we were in Lans, we had booked the Trou Qui Souffle for the five if us for today. Boyd and Jenny were attending talks, films, etc at the Conference. I got a call in the morning (we had left my mobile number as the contact for the caving trip) from a French caver called Tibon who asked if he could come with us as he had no transport. So Keith and Pete picked him up on the way to the cave at the Speleo information centre in Lans and we headed for the cave.

The entrance is right on the edge of the road at the bottom of a small rock wall and was discovered while men were working on the road. It had a bent tubular metal railing and was blowing a very cold breeze out (hence Trou Qui Souffle - The Hole which Blows). We parked a short way up the road and got changed. Pete and Keith were planning to do the traverse and exit via an adjoining cave called Les Saints de Glace, while Karen and I were planning to visit just the Trou Qui Souffle and come out the same way. Tibon was to go with Keith and Pete.
So, we let the three of them go first down the short 7 metre entrance pitch starting right on the surface just after 11:00am. Karen was next and after she had called "rope free" I clipped on and started down. The rope was a fairly thick 11mm and I found it had a lot of friction. When I got to a short narrowing, I found that I wasn't able to move any further! I called down to the others to tell them to go on (there was a 30 metre pitch) not much further in so I knew I could catch them up) while I sorted myself out. Next thing I heard was that Keith had injured a finger and was coming out! He had placed his hand on some rock as he passed and as he pushed off, he said his little finger on his left hand had felt strange. It seemed to be wobbling strangely in his glove and when he took the glove off, he found that he could bend the finger part way but could not straight it again without assistance from his other hand. So I returned the very short distance to the road and Keith followed out while the other three continued onwards into the cave planning to just stick to the TQS and return the same way.
Leaving Keith to get changed and his and Pete's rented car, I walked the short distance to the nearby connecting cave Les Saints de Glace. I soon found the entrance a short distance down a path off of a dirt track. I headed into the smallish entrance, which also was blowing a strong very cold breeze outwards like the TQS. After a short downward-sloping and low passage, I reached walking-size passage and soon reached a short pitch down large steps with a short traverse at the top. The pitch was this time rigged with 9mm rope and covered with slippery clay, black with alloy deposits from SRT gear. I dropped down the initial few metres, this time having the opposite problem of a very slippery rope! A short way down there was a Y-hang and another few metres to the bottom.
As it was so slippery and I was on my own, I decided that I had gone far enough and headed out to get changed. There was a group of cavers getting changed near our car and said "Bon jour" - but they turned out to be British anyway! I got changed and Keith returned after have gone looking for the entrance to Les Saints de Glace cave! We both waited for the others to exit from the TQS, meanwhile watching other cavers enter the cave - and coming out very soon afterwards! It turned out that they were mostly canyoners and were able to cope with the 7 metre entrance pitch with their gear - but not the 30 metre pitch further in!
Pete popped out followed by Karen and finally Tibon just after 3:10pm.