Its first detailed exploration was during WWII by a small team of French cavers composed of Pierre Chevalier, Fernand Petzl, Charles Petit-Didier and others.
Subsequent explorations there with Pierre Chevalier, Charles Petit-Didier and others culminated in connections to other caves in the massif, forming the Réseau de la Dent de Crolles which, in 1947, became the deepest cave in the world.
Fernand Léger | Fernand Khnopff | Fernand Braudel | Fernand Petzl | Fernand Lamaze | Fernand Pouillon | Fernand Loriot | Fernand Leduc | Fernand de Brinon | Petzl | Fernand St. Germain | Fernand Sardou | Fernand Point | Fernand Petiot | Fernand Mourlot | Fernand Meyssonnier | Fernand Lungren | Fernand Lafontaine | Fernand Holweck | Fernand Guyou | Fernand Goyvaerts | Fernand Demets | Fernand Dansereau | Fernand Crommelynck | Fernand Collin | Fernand Charron | Fernand Braudel Center | Fernand Auwera | Fernand Auberjonois |
Pursuing these developments, in the 1970s Fernand Petzl started a small caving equipment manufacturing company Petzl, which is today a world leader in equipment for both caving, mountaineering and at-height safety in civil engineering.
During World War II, such a team composed of Pierre Chevalier, Fernand Petzl, Charles Petit-Didier and others explored the Dent de Crolles cave system near Grenoble, France, which became the deepest explored cave in the world (-658m) at that time.