Ryan Legroulx

Since my first visit back in 2016, I’ve found myself venturing back to explore this cave a few more times. The most recent was back in July, where four of us hauled in some additional lighting to try and showcase the massive feature ice wall in the lower section of the cave!

As you initially enter the cave, you are greeted with a fairly snug squeeze, requiring a person to push or drag any additional gear. Immediately, you find yourself face down in a massive rats nest - essentially rat turds and cave treasures! If you are real lucky, you might even come face to face with a “local”, as we did on this particular day.

Shortly after your scented granular “land-swim”, the initial chamber opens up and you are greeted with a very spectacular ice heave formation. The route then leads into a smaller chamber branch with a solid ice floor. This is where an ice anchor is built, you “rope up”, slide through a 1x2m hole in the ice floor, and then descend into the lower chamber with an exhilarating 15m free-hanging rappel.

Once your feet touch rock & your headlamp lights the chamber, you immediately notice that the ice floor you were just standing on a few seconds prior, is actually a suspended continuation of an enormous 20m overhung vertical blue ice wall! The ice wall has a formidable bulging presence when standing near it, and it’s impossible not to “stare in awe” at the beauty of its almost perfectly smooth convex surface, & deep blue-white colour.

Probably one of the coolest parts of the entire experience - is having someone in group stand in the lower chamber with a bright headlamp shining upward, and witnessing the entire ice floor below your feet illuminate with a deep blue glow! So impressive! And although the cave also consists of a small frost chamber and some fun muddy passages to explore, the ice wall is definitely the headliner. This is probably why I keep finding myself there every couple years……

———————————————————
📷: Sony A7Riii /Sony GM 16-35mm