Dent de Crolles

View from the south on Saint Pancrasse

The Dent de Crolles is a karstic mountain ( 2062 m) of the Chartreuse mountains, 20 kilometers northeast of Grenoble (France) and was named after the nearby village Crolles. The mountain is visited a hiking mountain and climbers and paragliders. His distinctive southeast side rises steeply above the broad valley Grésivaudan that connects Chambery Grenoble. Access is usually from the Col du Coq, a narrow pass road with a peak of 1434 m. Including short is also a great trail parking lot. After the climb to the Col des Ayes through meadows which paths lead either to the north- east around the mountain to the Trou de Glaz (see below) and some rope secured rocky steps to the Pas de Glaz ( here branches of GR 9 by the Chartreuse from ). On the karstified sloping plateau of the way then pull to the summit. The alternative pathway separates just above the Col des Ayes about then go east straight to the top. This path is very steep and has also secured rope rock steps. Another alternative is the Sangle de la Barrere, a rather airy distance on a tight rock band from the Pas de Glaz south almost to the summit.

Inside the Dent de Crolles is one of the most complex and most extensive cave systems in Europe. The cave is known as a birthplace of modern speleology. The first exact explorations were carried out during the 2nd World War by Pierre Chevalier ( 1905-2001 ), Fernand Petzl ( 1912-2003 ), Charles Petit- Didier and others. The researchers soon found out that the Dent de Crolles 658 m had the deepest known cave in the world at that time. Today, the cave system is the sixth lowest in France.

Since at this time the climbing technology was not advanced, had to invent their own equipment and develop Pierre Chevalier and his colleagues. In the history of climbing the first use of Einseiltechnik, Prusik knot and mechanical ascenders is directly connected with the exploration of the Dent de Crolles Caves. Worth mentioning here is the use of Henri Brenots " monkeys " ( a climbing aid ), nylon ropes (since 1942 ) and explosives (1947). The book, published in English Pierre Chevalier Escalades souterraines or Subterranean Climbers documented caving in Dent de Crolles and is due to its modest tone today as a standard work of the cave climbing.

Since 1946 the cave system has been extensively studied. By 2007, nine separate entrances have been discovered, and 58 km runs were explored. The two most important portals of entry are the caves " Trou du glaz " and " Guiers mort".