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2019-02-27 20:10:46 +00:00
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<title>CUCC Expedition Rigging Handbook: A New Pitch</title>
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2004-04-21 10:35:34 +01:00
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2019-02-27 20:10:46 +00:00
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2004-04-24 12:50:58 +01:00
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<h2 id="tophead">CUCC Expo Rigging Handbook</h2>
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<h1>Your first pitch</h1>
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<h3>A New Pitch !</h3>
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<p>So your cave goes, and you have reached a large black space. Whether your
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reaction is joy or terror, there are a few things to consider before
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leaping, lemming-like, into the void on a handy piece of string, or running
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back to top camp to announce that the cave is "bottomless".</p>
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<p>How deep is the pitch ? Where would be the ideal line of descent, avoiding
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rub points, loose rock, mud and/or water ? Is there an obvious traverse
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level across the top of the pitch, or a short way down ? Can you actually
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<b><i>see</i></b> any of this without starting to rig ? Look across the
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pitch as well as down it - there may be accessible passage still to
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explore and always a chance that the pitch can be climbed or bypassed
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entirely. Look up too: if there is an aven it may give a clue as to where
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flood inlets might appear, or there may be loose rock or ice formations
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up there to be considered.</p>
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<p>The traditional method of judging the depth of a pitch is to lob a rock
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down. <span lang="fr">Casteret</span> always used to wrap his rock in a copy
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of "<i lang="fr">Le Monde</i>" and set it alight before casting it into the
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void. Before chucking <b>anything</b> down a pitch, consider whether there
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could be another party down there, perhaps having come by an entirely
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different route. In <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> in
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particular, this is a very real possibility.</p>
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<p>A traverse/security line is often useful to approach the edge of a new
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pitch. This may or may not become a permanent part of the rigging, but
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until the safety of the pitch head has been assessed, it is better to be
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safe than sorry. Such a rope will often enable you to reach a better
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viewpoint (or rock-chucking point :-) to assess the pitch, and certainly
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confers a greater degree of confidence when scrambling about looking for
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potential rig points.</p>
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<p>When throwing your rock, only the time to the first bounce is really
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relevant, unless it continues to rattle on for <b>very much</b> longer. If
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you can drop it in a "free hang" then this will give you a good idea of the
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minimum length of rope needed before a rebelay is required.</p>
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<h3>Rigging it</h3>
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<div class="onleft">
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<a href="../l/rbelay.html">
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<img alt="Rebelay photo - 32k" src="../t/rbelay.jpg" width="150" /></a></br><span
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class="caption">Rope to tight</br>(click to enlarge)</span>
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</div>
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<p>There are two two obvious tactical errors you can make when rigging a new
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pitch. On the one hand, you can spend ages bolting a perfect hang, only
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for the first person to find the pitch ends blind. On the other hand, you
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can bodge up a rig to check that it goes, then fail to rig properly before
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it takes a lot of traffic. The first error is frustrating and limits your
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finding of new stuff. The second error can be terminal at worst and at best
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can waste a lot more time than would have been needed to rig properly.</p>
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<p>If a pitch is roomy, draughts strongly or is in an immensely promising
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location, it is probably worth taking the time to rig it properly from the
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start. If the pitch is small, has no draught or is likely to drop back into a
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known part of the cave, it is probably better to send someone down before
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investing too much effort. You can make it safe pretty quickly with rope
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protectors and perhaps deviations off naturals, without taking the time to
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place bolts which you will need for a more permanent rig.</p>
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<p>Experience in the UK should have given you a good feel for when a pitch
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is well-rigged. It won't take too long in Austria to get a feel for how
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it can go wrong. If you find a pitch badly rigged by someone else, don't
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assume it must be OK because they survived. If you can improve the rig,
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do so; if not, consider carefully whether you should go down at all.</p>
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<p>A well-rigged pitch should not be overly gymnastic, nor, ideally, should
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it have either very long or very short sections, which result in a lot of
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waiting around for the other person(s) in a group. Loops at rebelays should
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not disappear when the rope is unloaded, and should be long enough to allow
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the removal of any type of descender. They do not need to be long enough to
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stand in - especially if the pitch above is short. Overmuch slack at a
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rebelay will result in a high fall-factor if the belay fails.</p>
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<hr />
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<div id="menu">
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<ul id="links">
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<li><a href="../index.htm">Expedition Handbook</a>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="rigit.html">Rigging guide</a></li>
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<li><a href="../survey/index.htm">Surveying guide</a></li>
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<li><a href="../look4.htm">Prospecting guide</a></li>
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<li><a href="../rescue.htm">Rescue guide</a></li>
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<li><a href="../photo.htm">Photography guide</a></li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><a href="../../infodx.htm">Main index</a></li>
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<li><a href="../../index.htm">Expo Home</a></li>
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<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home</a></li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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</body>
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</html>
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2019-02-27 20:10:46 +00:00
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