Cave exploration: Shuanghedong and the "smoking forest"

For three weeks, members of the 2014 Shuanghedong expedition team threw themselves into the continued exploration of Xinjiawan network and the other sections above the zone. The French Caving Federation sponsored the multi-national French-Chinese expedition team. The group succeeded in pushing beyond the 161 km mark of explored terrain in the Shuanghedong network, making it the 11th longest cave in the world. Expedition report by Olivier Testa.

Shalingdong's fossil cavern

Xinjiawan, a name that I have dreamed about for almost a decade.

"I explored this cave in 2005. During my first expedition to China, we spent a few days at a farm located several hours on foot from the far end of the Shuanghe Valley, in the middle of nowhere. In tough climatic conditions, it was both freezing cold and humid all the time, we discovered the "smoking forest". The caves at this altitude release warm, humid air from the underlying cave network that contains 158 explored kilometers to date. The humid underground air, upon condensing as it comes into contact with the cold outside air, forms 10 to 50 meter high steam plumes above each cave. This makes it easy to look for and find the various entrances. We explored 1630 meters of Liangfeng Cave (which means "cold air"), discovered a 285 meter deep shaft, and stopped, exhausted after prolonged exploration, at a high and narrow meander covered in sharp concretions that tore our undersuits to shreds, completely draining any remaining motivation we had.
 

Cavers have all but stopped exploring up there in spite of the potential, due to the inaccessible nature of the terrain and perhaps the meander's reputation for being so narrow.

Yet, "only" one kilometer separated the bottom of the meander and the supposed junction with the Shuanghedong network*.

Off to Xinjiawan!

Day one of the expedition...

Carlos, Han Feng, and I spend the entire day re-bolting P285.

Day three...

Nicolas, Alain, and I leave for the day with the set goal of finding an exit passage down below that very evening to link the two caves without having to climb back up the shaft. We set this goal without actually taking into consideration the feasibility: one should always err on the more humble side when caving. The meander, instead of heading northeast, veers towards the southwest, making our venture much more complicated. Forward progress proves difficult as we move from meanders to huge galleries, tubes, crawlways and even sections groveling flat on our stomachs, and never sheltered from the persistent flow of cold air. We are forced to turn back empty handed, after surveying 600 meters of narrow galleries and traveling in an unplanned direction. We arrive back at the lodge at 02:00 in the morning, exhausted. The next day is a rest day.

Day five...

The team consists of Jean, Nico, and I. We descend. The outermost point explored is still further down. A new meander starts, 6 m high and 0.5 m wide, that we continue along for more than one kilometer, taking note of the topography. We finally head in the right direction, but it's oh so long… Jean never seems to tire, which doesn't matter since we have no time to rest anyway in order to maximize our time in the cave. After 9 hours of exploration, we are stopped cold at the top of a 25-meter high shaft and turn around. The long climb back to the surface begins. Our knees and elbows are battered from the concretions, and our muscles burn from the effort. We finally step into the lodge in Wenquan at around 02:30 the next morning.

Day seven...

The team: Nico, Eric, and Alain. This time around, the team tries to search for the junction from below. As the bird flies, the furthest point explored in the meander is only 300 meters away from the Zephir network. The day's exploration starts in the Longtanzi sinkhole, literally "the dragon's bathtub." After crossing the lakes in small inflatable boats, the team then starts its rather chaotic push towards this unknown extremity of the Zephir network.

After what seems like forever, the team finally reaches the opposite roof, at the top of the shaft from the day before. The junction is finally made!

Day nine...

Alain and I venture one last time into Liangfengdong, from the top, to explore the various galleries that we ignored during our quest to find a junction between the two cave networks. We discover 580 meters of new galleries, including two promising developments: a large 50m high shaft, and a large 60m long fracture, with a strong air current, which likely leads to another entrance to the network.

We climb back out, removing the 500 meters of fixed ropes used during our exploration.

I'm thrilled to have finally been able to complete the adventure; I had believed for quite some time that it was possible to connect the two caves.

Following the discovery of this junction, the network now includes more than 161 kilometers of known galleries, making it the 11th longest cave in the world. To be continued…"

-- Olivier Testa

*To date, 161 kilometers of the Shuanghedonga network have been explored. This is currently the longest cave in China and now the 11th longest cave in the world. The potential for further exploration and discovery still remains, but will be increasingly difficult.

The French members of the expedition team: Jean Bottazzi, Eric David, Jean-François Fabriol, Nicolas Faure, Carole Jallibert, Alain Maurice, Carlos Placido, Eric Sanson, and Olivier Testa.