Grotte du Crête de Vaas

Grotte de la Crête - Grottes de Granges

Useful Information

Location:	At Granges, Lens.
Open:	closed. [2023]
Fee:	closed. [2023]
Classification:	Gypsum cave
Light:	none
Dimension:	L=1,644 m, VR=37 m, A=535 m asl, T=14 °C.
Guided tours:	Tour 1: D=5 h. Tour 2: D=10 h.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	r Paul Vetter (2022): Sur les traces des chiroptères, Magazine Des 3 Communes De Crans-montana Et Crans-montana Tourisme & Congrès, Octobre 2022, #38, pp 10. pdf Jean-Pierre Pralong (2004): Utilisation touristique de cavités karstiques dans des roches évaporitiques : le cas du Valais central (Suisse) , Gestion durable de l’environnement karstique Actes de la réunion annuelle de la Société Suisse de Géomorphologie (SSGm), La Chaux-de-Fonds, 3-4 septembre 2004. pdf
Address:	Trekking Team AG, Lützelaustrasse 48, 6353 Weggis, Tel: +41-848-808-007, Tel: +41-41-390-4040, Fax: +41-41-390-4039, Cell +41-79-420-77-77. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2006	3D scan of the cave.
2014	3D scan of the cave.

Description

The Grotte de la Crête is the longest gypsum cave in the Alps. A special highlight are the folded layers of gypsum and the blue-green lakes in the cave. The cave entrance is located in a vineyard in the Wallis, a few kilometers east of the famous show cave Lac Souterrain St-Léonard, and it is closed by a gate. It requires caving gear, some physical fitness, and as there is a narrow crawl at the entrance its good if you are not too corpulent. Helmet, headlamp, knee pads, gloves, mountain boots or gum boots and clothes which might get dirty or even better a caving overall.

The cave has a narrow and steep entrance section which goes down to the main chamber. This huge hall or passage is 250 m long and 40 m high and 40 m wide. There is a sequence of three blue lakes, so crossing the chamber will definitely require some swimming. At the far end there are numerous rather small sections, including partly water filled craws, a part which is only visited with visitor who have the physical fitness and no claustrophobia. This cave is not a difficult cave, but it requires basic skills and full gear.

We have listed the cave as a cave trekking tour, which was offered by the Trekking Team AG, which still operates tours into the Hölloch cave. It seems they have discontinued those tours, so we officially classified the cave as closed. The only way to visit today is a caving tour with the owner of the cave, Régis Bagnoud, a winemaker and keen caver. He is not doing cave trekking tours.

This gypsum cave has the same problems as most gypsum caves, it develops fast and there is always rockfall. Helmet is absolutely mandatory in the cave, and also its necessary to be careful and alert. To determine the amount of the collapses two complete 3D scans were made in this cave in 2006 and 2014 by the ISSKA, so it was possible to detect the changes.