12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

French ConnectionFriday the 13th saw almost everyonedigging on the Rat's Loft dig. tryingto open up a new, easier route tothe Valhalla area. Two digs werestarted, the Americans vs. the French;but, as luck would have it, Paul andClaude had picked the best spot. Infact, it was probably the only spota breakthrough could occur. Fourhours after starting, Sistema Purificacionhad its fourth entrance,aptly named La Entrada de los Franceses.Peter, Paul, and Claude tiedin this new entrance to the surveystation 5 meters inside, and then itwas time to celebrate. The Cueva deVapor entrance became obsolete withthe opening of this new entrance,for access to the entire Valhallaarea was much easier, and the newentrance will undoubtedly be a majorfactor in the future exploration ofthis large maze area.On April 14 Charles, Harry, Paul,Claude, Monique, Niki, Kasey, andGinny headed down "the mountain. TheFrench were bound for Pa1enque andthen back to France, while the otherswere bound for the U.S. Thesame day saw Peter S. Randy, Blake,and Dale headed for the up-per sectionsof Valhalla via the newly openedentrance to check some of thehigh leads. Close inside the entrance,Randy made the mistake ofputting his hand on a large 150kilo rock only to have it immediatelyshift and pin him to the passagewall. With the help of the others,he was set free, but he couldn'tbelieve it had happened. The rockis now known as Randy's Rock. Continuingon, the first lead led toa fair sized room with several largeExcavating the boulder choke for a new entrance.(Thomas Moore)95