More 2014 logbook entries, and some typo fixing.

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Jenny 2015-05-01 16:57:15 +12:00
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@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
<div class="trippeople"><u>Wookey</u>, Joe, AndrewA & Aled</div>
<div class="triptitle">3rd rigging in trip</div>
<p>Underground by 11 this time, with 3 batts & plenty of keenies. Joe headed for point again, whilst Wookey & AndyA came along as rigging fairies to fix up the dodgy Olly rigging, particularly his propensity for knee-high pitch head bolts. Fixed up entrance stuff the we had left for Aled the day before as he'd gone down the hill, then on to add back-up bolts, and often pitch head bolts too. Caught up with Joe at "Too bold for this spit" when he had managed to scare himself rigging due to having to fish out sling halfway across with a big leg-trembler. He was pleased to see some company. Wook went over and rigged back about 2m higher to turn a horrow into a nice travers. (Fine bit of traversing by O/J).</p>
<p>Underground by 11 this time, with 3 batts & plenty of keenies. Joe headed for point again, whilst Wookey & AndyA came along as rigging fairies to fix up the dodgy Olly rigging, particularly his propensity for knee-high pitch head bolts. Fixed up entrance stuff the we had left for Aled the day before as he'd gone down the hill, then on to add back-up bolts, and often pitch head bolts too. Caught up with Joe at "Too bold for this spit" when he had managed to scare himself rigging due to having to fish out sling halfway across with a big leg-trembler. He was pleased to see some company. Wook went over and rigged back about 2m higher to turn a horror into a nice traverse. (Fine bit of traversing by O/J).</p>
<p>Aled turned up at this point having come up from base and solo-caved to find us</p>
<p>4-some now continued to big Korea pitch, where we had [something] of the recommended 64m. Andrew rigged it tight and added 2 bolts and skipped two to just reach the floor whilst the rest checked out Land of Confusion QMs. Wook ticked off 13-LC-9C, 13-LC-7C, 13-LC-8X. 13-LC-6C is a C1.5(!) down to a fairly short pitch into China. Joe & Aled decided 13-LC-16A was worth a look.</p>
<p>We all went down to be impressed by China</p>
@ -106,7 +106,7 @@
<div class="trippeople">Anthony + <u>Becka</u></div>
<div class="triptitle">258 - Tunnocks - Rig String Theory + to Beast area</div>
<p>Used rope previously deposited to rig String Theory which was a breeze due to refelctor bolts placed on last year's derig - top gear! Continued on + I rigged Pidgeons in Flight but it needed further tweaking. Anthony + I then went for a [something] checking the in situ nasty red rope on the short climb up + traverse + to look at the Beast pitch + pitch below Bob Om.</p>
<p>Used rope previously deposited to rig String Theory which was a breeze due to reflector bolts placed on last year's derig - top gear! Continued on + I rigged Pidgeons in Flight but it needed further tweaking. Anthony + I then went for a [something] checking the in situ nasty red rope on the short climb up + traverse + to look at the Beast pitch + pitch below Bob Om.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 10 1/2 hrs</div>
@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka</u>, Mike, Andrea, Nat, Katey</div>
<div class="triptitle">Prospecting ~NE of Tunnocks</div>
<p>A pleasant day ambling in the sunshine trying to hit Mike's main goal areas. We found surprisingly little given the 5-person comb but we refound <u>CUCC-2005-05</u> which seemed promising <u>unless</u> the air in it is just circulation from the fractured bowl beneath the entrance. Mike, Andrea + Katey surveyed it whilst Nat bolted the right hand pitch to a bridge before running out of rope (we only had 11m + 12m; the only other tope at Top Camo was 200m!) + good rock. This should be returned to + checked out properly.</p>
<p>A pleasant day ambling in the sunshine trying to hit Mike's main goal areas. We found surprisingly little given the 5-person comb but we refound <u>CUCC-2005-05</u> which seemed promising <u>unless</u> the air in it is just circulation from the fractured bowl beneath the entrance. Mike, Andrea + Katey surveyed it whilst Nat bolted the right hand pitch to a bridge before running out of rope (we only had 11m + 12m; the only other rope at Top Camo was 200m!) + good rock. This should be returned to + checked out properly.</p>
<p>We also refound <u>2006-05</u> which appeared to have spits to descent but Base Camp couldn't find a report of what happened there, it looks pretty good.</p>
<p>Finally, we found a new cave which we ineptly tagged as <u>CUCC-14-876</u> ("Hot Tub"). Katey rigged this with a backup then y-hang down perhaps 15m to a snow plug which might have a way on beyond. It seemed to have a good draft + is in an interesting position above 258/204 so, again, this would be worth returning to.</p>
@ -148,7 +148,7 @@
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jess</u>, Wookey, Michael</div>
<div class="triptitle">107 - Gemshohle - Finalising Nipped Down rigging + Pushing lead in Southern China - "The Last TSA"</div>
<p>Nipped down had been rebolted the rpevious trip, but the ropes needed switching to ensure the rope reached the floor. Wookey sorted this while Jess and Michael passed 5m of slack rope along the popped across traverse back to the pitch at too bold for this spit:</p>
<p>Nipped down had been rebolted the previous trip, but the ropes needed switching to ensure the rope reached the floor. Wookey sorted this while Jess and Michael passed 5m of slack rope along the popped across traverse back to the pitch at too bold for this spit:</p>
<p>Too Bold for This Spit: (computerised image can be found in expoimages in rigging_topos, 107_tooboldforthisspit.svg)</p>
<p>Popped Across Traverse: (computerised image can be found in expoimages in rigging_topos, 107_poppedacrosstraverse.svg)</p>
@ -173,7 +173,7 @@
<p>The return trip to The Last TSA, to finish the survey. Large mud and stone floored phreatic hading(?) rift, heading S and down, with a chocolate mud river flowing down the floor. Large amount of wall peelage LHS - in one place a huge section has flaked off (20m? long) - "the battleship Potempkin". Wookey shinned up into the ceiling after the battleship, finding a window out into the end chamber with the rift continuing up with a slight draft at 30m above the floor - Wookey realised how high he was, got scared and came back - continuing climb up rift QMB. W rigged a handline down the washed out mud and boulder cliff into the final chamber whereon aven enters - QMX. Far wall is solid, W poked around in the boulders and found that the RHW is undercut and could be the continuation, but no way through the very precarious boulderchoke filling the chamber floor and bottom part of 2 walls (RHS, nearside).</p>
<p>De-rigged back into China, and Wookey proceeded to climb up to the alcove visible in the N wall of the aven at the N of China, ~20m up. The climb drafted, but the alcove was a sand-filled passage and didn't go (13-CH-1B). On his way back down, on the RHS of a boulder he had passed on the L on the way up, hefound a rift + small hole below which drafted V strongly out! The rift would be tight and looked like you would need to wedge yourself in then descend a pitch. The small hole below may give easier access if dug?</p>
<p>De-rigged back into China, and Wookey proceeded to climb up to the alcove visible in the N wall of the aven at the N of China, ~20m up. The climb drafted, but the alcove was a sand-filled passage and didn't go (13-CH-1B). On his way back down, on the RHS of a boulder he had passed on the L on the way up, he found a rift + small hole below which drafted V strongly out! The rift would be tight and looked like you would need to wedge yourself in then descend a pitch. The small hole below may give easier access if dug?</p>
<p><b>QMA!!! - the way to kH?</b></p>
@ -188,7 +188,7 @@
<div class="trippeople"><u>Michael</u>, Katey, Mike, & Andrea Futrell</div>
<div class="triptitle">258 - Tunnocks - Sightseeing and C lead at the top of String Theory (09-44C)</div>
<p>The Futrells wanted a sightseeing trip where they could take photographs without being pressured to go fast, and us others wanted an easier trip. Also given to us was the choices of a C-lead at the top of String Theory (09-44C). Took the standard roure to ST (Entrance -> Caramel Catharsis -> Pleasure Series -> ST). C-lead was along a rift out the top of the scree slope at the top of ST heading West. Floor of boulder choke, after ~20m the floor falls out. There is a ga wide enough to fit a person, an 11m tope allowed descent to a second level of boulder choke floor. A third and final level of boulder choke floor was reached by another ~6m pitch. Both ends of the rift choked up at each level. The lowest level was at ~45(degree) angle, any step sent a cascade of rocks down.
<p>The Futrells wanted a sightseeing trip where they could take photographs without being pressured to go fast, and us others wanted an easier trip. Also given to us was the choices of a C-lead at the top of String Theory (09-44C). Took the standard route to ST (Entrance -> Caramel Catharsis -> Pleasure Series -> ST). C-lead was along a rift out the top of the scree slope at the top of ST heading West. Floor of boulder choke, after ~20m the floor falls out. There is a gap wide enough to fit a person, an 11m rope allowed descent to a second level of boulder choke floor. A third and final level of boulder choke floor was reached by another ~6m pitch. Both ends of the rift choked up at each level. The lowest level was at ~45(degree) angle, any step sent a cascade of rocks down.
<UL><i>Drawing of passage with rigging guide (Trireme Rift)</i></UL>
@ -200,19 +200,19 @@ Craps out in all directions, not worth returning to. On the way out, the Futrell
<div class="trippeople"><u>Anthony</u>, Rob A, Rob W</div>
<div class="triptitle">Rig 161g</div>
<p>After a week of effort in 107, the general consensus was that it would be easier to find a connection from the 161 side, so Dr Day's Entrance Pitch Rigging Service was called into action. Trundled over with Rob and enough gear to rig to Strange Downfull, placing a minimal set of reflectors en route. Rigging in proceeded smoothly with few surprises (apart from one handline that had been removed near the start of Peurile Humour - reinstated) and flawless route finding as far as the top of Knossos. Here I discovered that one of the bolts I wanted to use for the pitch head y-hang had been deliberately disabled, so the new rig looks like this:
<p>After a week of effort in 107, the general consensus was that it would be easier to find a connection from the 161 side, so Dr Day's Entrance Pitch Rigging Service was called into action. Trundled over with Rob and enough gear to rig to Strange Downfall, placing a minimal set of reflectors en route. Rigging in proceeded smoothly with few surprises (apart from one handline that had been removed near the start of Peurile Humour - reinstated) and flawless route finding as far as the top of Knossos. Here I discovered that one of the bolts I wanted to use for the pitch head y-hang had been deliberately disabled, so the new rig looks like this:
<UL>Lovely Drawing</UL>
Route finding through Knossos/Star Wars/Tower Blocks proved to be a bit more tricky - some reflectors would be useful - but we eventually made it to Staircase 36. The rope for the traverse over a big hole near the bottom of Staircase 36 has been removed and should ideally be reinstated. I rigged Strange Downfull unlike Rob and Rob nosed around in Chicken Flied Nice without finding any obvious route through to Runnel Stone. With that we headed out - a most efficient trip.</p>
Route finding through Knossos/Star Wars/Tower Blocks proved to be a bit more tricky - some reflectors would be useful - but we eventually made it to Staircase 36. The rope for the traverse over a big hole near the bottom of Staircase 36 has been removed and should ideally be reinstated. I rigged Strange Downfall unlike Rob and Rob nosed around in Chicken Flied Nice without finding any obvious route through to Runnel Stone. With that we headed out - a most efficient trip.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 7 hrs</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-07-30d">2014-07-30</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Anthony</u>, Rob A, Rob W</div>
<div class="triptitle">161 - Reconnaisance trip to Runnel Stone</div>
<div class="triptitle">161 - Reconnaissance trip to Runnel Stone</div>
<p>Following a quick and effective trip the previous day, the same team returned to rig the long way round to the leads near 107. We thought that the trip shouldn't take too long so were in no hurry to leave Top Camp. The flaw in this logic should have been obvious and our failure to get underground before 14:00 proved to be a mistake. Trundled along to Strange Downfull, Rob W prussiked up Strange Upfull to find that the traverse line(?) at the top was (thankfully) still in place. Up Irony of Time and into Country for Old Men, we had a pleasant surprise that the Sudelenland pitch was still rigged - the 100m of rope we had with us was starting to look like overkill. All enjoyed the interesting rig on the Mordor pitch, then along the extreme horizontal stuff at the bottom. By now it was becoming clear that, despite minimal route-finding hassles, the trip was going to take quite a long time.</p>
<p>Following a quick and effective trip the previous day, the same team returned to rig the long way round to the leads near 107. We thought that the trip shouldn't take too long so were in no hurry to leave Top Camp. The flaw in this logic should have been obvious and our failure to get underground before 14:00 proved to be a mistake. Trundled along to Strange Downfall, Rob W prussiked up Strange Upfall to find that the traverse line(?) at the top was (thankfully) still in place. Up Irony of Time and into Country for Old Men, we had a pleasant surprise that the Sudelenland pitch was still rigged - the 100m of rope we had with us was starting to look like overkill. All enjoyed the interesting rig on the Mordor pitch, then along the extreme horizontal stuff at the bottom. By now it was becoming clear that, despite minimal route-finding hassles, the trip was going to take quite a long time.</p>
<p>Arriving at Holey Cow, we finally found something that needed rigging. Rob W rigged down the little climb, then put in a hanger to protect the walk across the ridge to the little traverse on the other side. It turns out that this bolt is pretty good since when Rob made it to the location of the y-hang bolts, the ledge he was standing on disappeared and he took a swing and smacked into the ridge.</p>
<p>After that bit of excitement, we headed off to the Runnel Stone. Survey station 56 looked like the most promising area: there is an undescended pitch with a faint draught. Climbing up into the roof (looks like we are in the bottom of a keyhole) to see if the passage continues at roof level might also be worth a try. The survey puts us 23m laterally and at the same level as a parallel passage to Chicken Flied Nice, so there are a few possibilities here for cutting a significant chunk off the commute.</p>
<p>Next we went to the end of Bundestrasse. The continuing rift at the end goes to a pitch after ~15m. There is a draught, but it is small compared to that in the phreatic passage. This suggests that most of the draught disappears up the aven, which looks like a phreatic tube and Rob A believes might be climbable.</p>
@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ Route finding through Knossos/Star Wars/Tower Blocks proved to be a bit more tri
<p>(Also just realised Matt has already written this...)</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 4 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-01c">2014-07-01</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-01c">2014-08-01</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Michael</u>, Becka, Rob W.</div>
<div class="triptitle">Surface prospecting, NW of Tunnocks</div>
@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ Route finding through Knossos/Star Wars/Tower Blocks proved to be a bit more tri
<p>777 was tagged & GPS logged, but 888 was only GPS logged for lack of time.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 0 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-02b">2014-07-02</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-02b">2014-08-02</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Michael</u>, Matt, Sophie, Sam</div>
<div class="triptitle">Checking Ants in Your Pants for snow level</div>
@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ Route finding through Knossos/Star Wars/Tower Blocks proved to be a bit more tri
<p>Need snow level to be much lower for hope of making the connection into Tunnocks, even though 2014 has a particularly low snow level anyway.<p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: <1 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-03a">2014-07-03</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-03a">2014-08-03</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Michael</u>, Neil, Mike & Andrea</div>
<div class="triptitle">2014-888 and MF unmarked pit</div>
<p>Follow up on 2014-888, a drafting hole blocked mostly by choss. Took crowbar & bolting kit to prise all the precarious large rocks away from the entrance and rig the pitch that could be seen just beyond them.<p>
@ -315,33 +315,33 @@ Then proceeded to a large open pit that Mike Futrell found in 2013. Snow plug at
<p>Crapped out on both sides of the snow plug, didn't go anywhere.
<div class="timeug">T/U: 1 hr </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-03b">2014-07-03</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-03b">2014-08-03</div>
<div class="trippeople">Becka, Andrew, RobA, <u>RobW</u></div>
<div class="triptitle">107 - KH connection made / KH derig</div>
<p>I was awoken early by Becka who was very excited about the previous days trip. Survey data was examined & quizzing began. However, being not properly awake i did not provide any useful information at all, so we arranged to go back into 107 with lots of tackle sacks to examine the lead: if it was, as could have been the case, a connection into Korea, we would derig 107. If not, then who knew what was going to happen! After some inevitable faff (I dropped my wellies on the walk over) we got underground around half 11. We were in China by 1pm, and after some flapkjack split into two twos: Rob & I went through the rift & down the pitch, & Andrew & Becka went into Korea & we would shout at each other to see if it connected. On dropping down the pitch, I showed Rob what we had done the day before and we headed up the sandy ramp to the slit. At this point, Rob proclaimed "I bet you &pound;500 that we're in Blown Out." On looking at the traverse I half attempted the previous day, we rescinded the bet until further evidence arose. He found a way to climb down which bypassed this obstacle, and we poked around a bit at the bottom until we heard Becka & Andrew Whooping with surprise: we were indeed in Blown Out! Apparently my failure to mention how sandy the other side of the connection was or that we had found survey station 4 on the other side of the slit. In hindsight, it did look rather like the other leads in KH that I had looked at (Chicken Flied Nice). We decided that we would do the through trip out of KH, derigging as we went. After Becka had done one last survey leg to link mine & Davids data [something] China (using our station 8 & station 4 (?) off the top of the large boulder opposite Wookeys death climb) & me and Andrew had gardened the death climb until there was only half a ledge left to rig off, we set off through Blown Out, Rob rigged the 5m traverse, and we continues derigging en route. Mordor was derigged (and would need rebolting if it is ever descended again), along with Sudenland, Strange Downfall, Knossos & the Entrance. Strange Upfall, Staircase 36 & Repton were left rigged. We were out by 9, & a lightening storm ensured a hasty walk to Top Camp.</p>
<p>I was awoken early by Becka who was very excited about the previous days trip. Survey data was examined & quizzing began. However, being not properly awake I did not provide any useful information at all, so we arranged to go back into 107 with lots of tackle sacks to examine the lead: if it was, as could have been the case, a connection into Korea, we would derig 107. If not, then who knew what was going to happen! After some inevitable faff (I dropped my wellies on the walk over) we got underground around half 11. We were in China by 1pm, and after some flapkjack split into two twos: Rob & I went through the rift & down the pitch, & Andrew & Becka went into Korea & we would shout at each other to see if it connected. On dropping down the pitch, I showed Rob what we had done the day before and we headed up the sandy ramp to the slit. At this point, Rob proclaimed "I bet you &pound;500 that we're in Blown Out." On looking at the traverse I half attempted the previous day, we rescinded the bet until further evidence arose. He found a way to climb down which bypassed this obstacle, and we poked around a bit at the bottom until we heard Becka & Andrew Whooping with surprise: we were indeed in Blown Out! Apparently my failure to mention how sandy the other side of the connection was or that we had found survey station 4 on the other side of the slit. In hindsight, it did look rather like the other leads in KH that I had looked at (Chicken Flied Nice). We decided that we would do the through trip out of KH, derigging as we went. After Becka had done one last survey leg to link mine & Davids data [something] China (using our station 8 & station 4 (?) off the top of the large boulder opposite Wookeys death climb) & me and Andrew had gardened the death climb until there was only half a ledge left to rig off, we set off through Blown Out, Rob rigged the 5m traverse, and we continues derigging en route. Mordor was derigged (and would need rebolting if it is ever descended again), along with Sudenland, Strange Downfall, Knossos & the Entrance. Strange Upfall, Staircase 36 & Repton were left rigged. We were out by 9, & a lightening storm ensured a hasty walk to Top Camp.</p>
<p>27 min walk to beat the thunderstorm - a fine trip!</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 10 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-01d">2014-07-01</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-01d">2014-08-01</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Katey</u>, Nathanael</div>
<div class="triptitle">2005-05</div>
<p>After prospecting with Becka, Mike + Andrea a couple of days before, Nat and I decided to revisit 2005-05 to carry on dropping the pitches there. Rob bailed, leading to a rather late start, but we set off with a ~40m and 2 x 11m ropes, plus the bosch drill older than either one of us. We re-rigged the first pitch that Nat had dropped earlier and landed on a stone bridge between two pitches. Nat decided to drop the western pitch since it seemed to look more promising, so bolted a rebelay and carried on downwards. After dropping through a slightly narrow gap we landed on a loose, rocky slope with a ledge to one side. Nat bolted another rebelay and started on one of the 11m ropes but rapidly came back since there was a pitch that was too big for us to drop with the kit we had - exciting times! I went down to take a look then we went off to the ledge to commiserate. We reckoned the pitch had about a 2-second drop, making it somewhere between 20 and 30 metres. As we were cold and out of gear, we decided to return the next day with more rope (and our oversuits!).</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 3 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-02c">2014-07-02</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-02c">2014-08-02</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Katey</u>, Nathanael</div>
<div class="triptitle">2005-05</div>
<p>We returned with a 100m rope and the same drill (well, the same battery). Unfortunately, the drill was shit (read: the battery was very low) and we only managed to put in 1 1/4 bolts. This was especially frustrating as Nat had converted a dingle bolt rebelay to a Y-hang, so the 1/4 hole was right above the big pitch! Even more frustrating, we'd neglected to bring a spit driver due to inexperience and general incompetence. We headed back to camp promising that the next day we'd finally drop that pitch!</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 2 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-03c">2014-07-03</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-03c">2014-08-03</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Katey</u>, Nathanael</div>
<div class="triptitle">2005-05</div>
<p>We returned to the cave with a lighter drill and brighter spirits, and with surprisingly minimal faffing dropped the pitch. A nice long abseil down a clean-washed shaft landed on a rocky ledge with one more short drop before the cave opened into a chamber. I bolted the small pitch, which turned out to be more challenging than anticipated, and we were in the chamber! Finally a use for the compass/clino we'd brought! Unfortunately, in our trying not to be overly optimistic and scare the cave off we were very low on extra layers, meaning we couldn't survey for very long. On the plus side, the cave was nice and drafty! Despite cold and surveying inexperience we got about 60m surveyed with plenty more to go. We also finally settled on a name for the cave - Balcony H&ouml;hle - based on the truly excellent entrance.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 3.5 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-04a">2014-07-04</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-04a">2014-08-04</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Katey</u>, Nathanael, Noel</div>
<div class="triptitle">2005-05 Balcony H&ouml;hle</div>
@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ Then proceeded to a large open pit that Mike Futrell found in 2013. Snow plug at
<p>*Worth noting: the long (34m) pitch gets drippy after rainstorms, even after the rain has passed. It was only a bit unpleasant, not dangerous, but trips should take a bothy on rainy days incase the pitch gets more than unpleasant!<p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 5.5 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-05a">2014-07-05</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-05a">2014-08-05</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Katey</u>, Holly, Noel, Mike, Andrea</div>
<div class="triptitle">2005-05 Balcony H&ouml;hle</div>
@ -357,27 +357,130 @@ Then proceeded to a large open pit that Mike Futrell found in 2013. Snow plug at
<div class="timeug">T/U: 6 hrs </div>
<UL><i>Drawing of rigging guide (Balcony H&ouml;hle Rigging Topo - Entrance Series (05/08/2014))</i></UL>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-01e">2014-07-01</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-01e">2014-08-01</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka</u>, RobA</div>
<div class="triptitle">Tunnocks - Ducks on Ice / Tacklesack retrieval</div>
<p>After a walk up + a prospecting trip I polished off the day with an evening saunter down Tunnocks to try to fetch the tacklesack that Rob had dropped down the ice slope whilst trying to rig the entrance. Rob hefted the mighty Bosch drill whilst I did a solo survey down the ice slope to a small pit + an ice slot (where, presumably, the tacklesack has gone, though we did manage to retrieve a sling), a good-looking horizontal lead past a short traverse around the small pit (which turned out to be part of stone monkey on the next trip on 4/8/14) + a possible lead in a chamber beyond the ice slot. Called time around midnight to be fresh for the next day.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 4 1/2 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-02d">2014-07-02</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-02d">2014-08-02</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka</u>, Andrew, Neil</div>
<div class="triptitle">Tunnocks - Champagne on Ice</div>
<p>Down to continue from Neil, Andrew + Aled's trip yesterday. Andrew continued from Neil's bolts + rigged ~ 3 more pitches, two of which looked like they could get wet. We surveyed on the way out, we'd dropped 55m vertically + left it still open + looking bang on course for Neil + Andrew's G&ouml;sser-fuelled inspiration of trying to get to the Straight Choice/Arctic Angle area by dropping in from the north end of Tunnocks.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 8 1/2 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-02d">2014-07-02</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-04b">2014-08-04</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka</u>, Neil, RobA</div>
<div class="triptitle">Tunnocks - Ducks on Ice rigging + connecting</div>
<p>Off to finish the Ducks on Ice survey. As soon as I stopped into the horizontal tube I cold see people had been here before so we romped off to see where we were - + soon arrived right above the top bolt of Caramel Catharsis, bingo! Decided this would make a far superior entrance, avoiding two tacklesack mauling crawls, a poxy short pitch, a traverse + some caving... but it needed a little work. Neil rigged a handline down Caramel Catharsis then helped me with some gardening then headed off to help Rob trying to improve the rig down lower Tunnocks entrance (Ducks on Ice) whilst I spend a merry 3 hours trundling boulders to garden the route. I did a single leg (99cm) survey to do the connection + headed out whilst Neil valiantly stood by until Rob finished the rigging (tricky given the ice/crap rock/danger of rockfall/sharp corners several hours later.
</p>
<p>Off to finish the Ducks on Ice survey. As soon as I stopped into the horizontal tube I cold see people had been here before so we romped off to see where we were - + soon arrived right above the top bolt of Caramel Catharsis, bingo! Decided this would make a far superior entrance, avoiding two tacklesack mauling crawls, a poxy short pitch, a traverse + some caving... but it needed a little work. Neil rigged a handline down Caramel Catharsis then helped me with some gardening then headed off to help Rob trying to improve the rig down lower Tunnocks entrance (Ducks on Ice) whilst I spend a merry 3 hours trundling boulders to garden the route. I did a single leg (99cm) survey to do the connection + headed out whilst Neil valiantly stood by until Rob finished the rigging (tricky given the ice/crap rock/danger of rockfall/sharp corners several hours later.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: Becka 6 hrs , N+R 9 hrs</div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-04c">2014-08-04</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Chris</u>, Anthony</div>
<div class="triptitle">Tunnocks - Champagne on Ice </div>
<p>Intersected above team during their short-cut creation then checked out Champagne on Ice.</p>
<p>Anthony attempted to continue rigging between 2 separate cascades while Chris returned to make some of the rigging more humane.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 8 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-05b">2014-08-05</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka</u>, Neil, Anthony, Anthony</div>
<div class="triptitle">Prospecting N of Tunnocks</div>
<p>After we'd all done an early morning walk down to fetch food from the carpark (as Top Camp had pretty much run out of everything) there wasn't time for a decent trip + the weather was a bit 50-50. We headed off past the Tunnocks col + Ants in the Pants + then along the German cairned route to the hillock/ridge the farside of Ants in the Pants then split into two pairs, each with a GPS. Anthony + Chris weren't impressed + didn't really find anything whereas Neil + I got excited by the general area +, especially, by a lovely section of limestone pavement <u>full</u> of shafts (one 2012-ft12 I think), some of which looked really good. We then headed back around + Neil stumbled on the best lead (+the only one that we tagged) which was a slot in an open hole in bunde with a fair drop beyond + a <u>good</u> draft. Quite narrow to enter but not an issue, provisionally called Disappointment Pot. On both mine + Anthony's GPS.</p>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-06a">2014-08-06</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka</u>, Neil, Mike</div>
<div class="triptitle">258 Tunnocks - Champagne on Ice - connection trip to Arctic Angle</div>
<p>Back on down to continue our previous survey down the pitches that Joe, Fleur + Pete had rigged yesterday. The horizontal passage looked an excellent lead with a good draft (+ a single pair of footsteps in + out - bad boy, Joe!). We soon surveyed to a traverse which Neil rigged over a big drop + ... footsteps the other side ... so we only got ~4m of unsurveyed passage to get the connection! We tied in the survey then ran off to work out where we were (luckily I'd packed Julian's mini-survey of the Straight Choice area). Mike took a few shots of pretties + then we checked out the leads, admiring the scary traverse + climb that Andrew had done on the only trip that had been there before, when we'd done a long rig - survey - derig trip at the end of Expo. There were no horizontal leads to do + we were nearly out of rigging gear so we decided to go for the QMA at the S end of Arctic Angle with a p6. Neil soon rigged this + excitedly reported that it looked good... + we'd already noticed the strong draft so we whooped our way down to discover a maze of attractive walking passage - lots of phreatic, some formations, really lovely - looking passage, whoo hoo!</p>
<p>Neil + I tried to break Mike with speed surveying with a DistoX. We romped around, surveying to a large pitch from two different directions + several other pitches. We also left a couple of easy, strongly drafting 'digs' (needing 30 seconds to scoop away the sand to enter) + some slightly harder to enter horizontal leads as well as all the vertical leads for others to enjoy. Headed out after wrapping up a 69 leg, ~450m survey. I deriged the pitch + traverse + entrance rigging above Caramel Catharsis as Ducks on Ice is now the standard route whilst Neil added two more bolts on Ducks on ice to try to alleviate the rubs. Fine trip!</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 13 hrs </div>
<p>
<UL><i>Drawing of Rigging Topo for Tibet (pitch connecting 107 to 161, provisionally named by David)</i></UL></p>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-05c">2014-08-05</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Elaine</u>, Michael</div>
<div class="triptitle">SRT practice</div>
<p>Having visited the f&ecirc;te in Bad Aussee the night before, M&E were up bright and early for a day's caving, having stayed off the g&ouml;sser. We couldn't convince Sam to accompany us up the hill but he gave us a lift to the parkplatz as there was only 1 pass left, claiming he'd come up later in the day (this turned out to be a lie). We reached the Stone Bridge to the sounds of manic laughter - Nat & RobW were attempting to steal Katey's toilet paper as she was on the grike, using a pair of salad tongs attached to a pole. Everyone who was going caving had left so we decided to do our own, not-too-strenuous trip (E. had thrown up that morning in the parkplazt - Sam's driving? Ario-disease from the ULSA crew? who knows). E needed some SRT practice so we decided that the Tunnocks entrance series adventure playground was the ideal candidate. We made good if a bit slow progress then once down proceeded as far as Y [something] Beach before deciding to turn around. The exit was actually faster than the descent, and we were out in time to walk back to camp in daylight.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 7 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-07a">2014-08-07</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Elaine</u>, Michael, (Holly, Noel)</div>
<div class="triptitle">2005-05 Balcony H&ouml;hle </div>
<p>E, M, H & N descended the entrance series together (well, in 2 waves to save waiting around) then H&N went off to drop a pitch (I assume they'll elaborate later) while M&E went to check out the passage beyond a climb which N&M had rigged while H&E descended. The nice rifty passage went and went (northwards) - slightly scary loose boulder floor which we gardened a bit, but some lovely mud formations. E achieved the impressive feat of becoming cold while wearing 3 layers of thermals in addition to over & undersuit. We surveyed around 130m in total, leaving 2 A-leads, one B-lead and two C-leads for future cavers. We called the area 'Lemonsnout' and the data is in folder # '2014#19'</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 7 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-08a">2014-08-08</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Pete</u></div>
<div class="triptitle">Car Park Cave </div>
<p>Found at bottom of path, after water trough. Contains large chamber with apfel strudel, beer and ice cream. Mmmmmmmmmm.</p>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-03d">2014-08-03</div>
<div class="trippeople">Matt, David, Aled, Sam, Sophie, <u>Elaine</u></div>
<div class="triptitle">2014-NEO-01 </div>
<p>Mass surface-prospecting trip. More write-up from others to follow? Matt pointed out a horizontal-leading hole that a previous (less keen) UBSS caver had deemed "too tight". Elaine, being an avid Mendip fan, decided that it was actually fine & wriggled through to find that it pinched out after ~11m. Still, it was long enough to kataster, so E+D surveyed/photo-ed/GPSed/tagged it, while A+S dropped a small surface hole E+D had deemed too wet & horrible. Afterwards E+D did some cross-valley directing to not much avail. E+D then discovered that caving <u>CAN</u> be a spectator sport, watching Michael bolt a pitch though a nice large window slightly further north. :) </p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: E+D ~1 hr </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-06b">2014-08-06</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Chris</u> & RobA</div>
<div class="triptitle">The Number of the Beast</div>
<p>Picked up pile of gear at bottom of String Theory, augmented by a few more pieces of rope, & rigged down to pushing front at bottom of The Number of the Beast. Out in 4 hrs.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 12 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-07b">2014-08-07</div>
<div class="trippeople">Fleur, Pete, <u>Chris</u> </div>
<div class="triptitle">Balcon H&ouml;hle - A Room With a View</div>
<p>Fleur polished up the entrance pitches after the previous day of gardening. We followed the howling gale to reach the 40m pitch reached by Mike & Andrea on 05/08. Pete rigged over the top, "Natural Highs",with his rigging butler providing an ever-increasing rope length (10m replaced by 20m replaced by 40m). After traversing over 3 pitches we were on terra firma, in substantial passage with leads all around & the sound of drilling above. I shinned up the RH wall into large phreas going up & downstream, which I ambled along upstream until I was able to wave cheerily at Noel & Holly who were dangling on the far side, wondering how to reach the balcony I was beaming out from. We settled for a DistoX "handshake" across the gulf.</p>
<p>Fleur & Pete surveyed the 'Leeds Bypass' while I put some "Unnatural Highs" bolts in (Pete's battery had died hence excessive use of natural protection). Then we surveyed on down-sip along the windy phreas. It just got bigger and bigger - while Pete & Fleur followed the biggest windiest passage I took the frill to a draft phreatic pitch off to the left, left 15m down with a 'Y' hang waiting for someone to come along with another 30m or so of rope to descend it - 'Gardeners Question Time' due to the usual issue of just how much gardening to do. Fleur & Pete returned having reached a traverse that needed rigging. So we took the drill along to the end, passing a dried up stream trench in the floor. The remaining 10m rope took us 2/3 along the traverse in 3 bolts + 1 natural, so a splendid lead for someone to continue into the phreas beyond. 230m in book.</p>
<p>We had a bit of a queue on the ent pitches, meeting up with Mike & Elaine & then Holly & Noel, so we all compared our finds - all going, so smiles all round.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 10 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-04d">2014-08-04</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Holly</u> & Noel</div>
<div class="triptitle">Tunnocks THE BEAST</div>
<p>unfortunately we have been defeated by the Beast. :( Noel & I decided to try & have a go at dropping the Beast. So down String Theory, down Pigeon's in Flight and off to the top of Pigeon Droppings. Here there was a gear stash & Pigeon Droppings was rigged - awaiting a derig. So whilst I repacked the gear, Noel derigged Pigeon Droppings. Once all the gear was out, sorted & repacked - we headed to the Beast. We had decided to try the window Becka & I had found (back on the connection trip in 2012). So Noel rigged Eh Bah Gum, which unfortunately was rigged on thru-bolts and also needed a new rebelay due to a trashed bolt. Once done, we head to the ledge and the story continues...</p>
<p>
<UL><i>Series of three cartoons</UL></i></p>
<p>So we were defeated. There is no suitable place to drop the Beast. So we then derigged Eh Bah Gum & dragged all the gear, including Pigeon's in Flight, to the bottom of String Theory.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 12.5 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-05d">2014-08-05</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Holly</u> & Callum, Joe</div>
<div class="triptitle">107 - Land of Confusion</div>
<p>The weather was rubbish - rain, rain, rain. It was understood that the large pitch into China would be too wet to descend, so we went in to try & find a new way in, in the Land of Confusion. We headed over the big pitch & into LoC. Here one drops a short pitch (~6m or so), then climbs up the same height to on-going passage on the other side.</p>
<p><u>Note:</u> at the bottom of this pitch is another pitch - dry (13-LC-16A). Perfect for someone who wants bolting practice. On the main passage, Joe ran ahead to scope out the leads (pitches) that are understood to also lead to China. Joe found lead 13-LC-2C to be dry, so we attempted to rig here. Unfortunately all the rock was cheese. Eventually, after a lot of trying, we decided that it would be a project that needed more work & wouldn't be worth it. So we headed out, but rigged a traverse on the rift somewhere between 'Coldest Place on Earth' and 'Restless' as follows:</p>
<p>
<UL><i>Rigging Sketch</UL></i></p>
<p>Then headed out.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: ~5 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-08b">2014-08-08</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Chris</u>, Fleur, Noel, Holly</div>
<div class="triptitle">107 - derig</div>
<p>none of us had been in the cave before but a dearth of gear at TC meant that a tactical derig was required. On the way in we eyed up the gear we passed, and were disappointed by the sparse rigging. Noel & I popped down to see what we could find at the bottom of China. I found an up-rope at the top end of this impressive fault chamber but we decided it would be antisocial to derig so left in situ. it turned out that, some way beyond was ~80m rope + rigging gear in a bag, somewhere near the connection to 161, opps. Still, between the 4 of us we retrieved 7 tacklesacks of booty to the surface in time to get down to the expo dinner :-)</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 5 hrs </div>
<div class="tripdate" id="t2014-08-10a">2014-08-10</div>
<div class="trippeople">Nathanael & <u>Holly</u></div>
<div class="triptitle">Balcony H&ouml;hle</div>
<p>Back to Pit Pot. We derigged the deviation & pulled up the rope from the previous trip and swung on to the boulder bridge. I was drilling -> put in a couple of bolts on the rock bridge & abseiled down a very short pitch ~3m. landed on a boulder + mud slope. This was rather treacherous, particularly near the edge of the slope where there was a vertical section. I put in a couple more bolts on the left hand side of the passage to attempt to keep us away from these boulders. Was OK but not great. Landed on a boulder floor, then called Nat down. We had been surveying at each stage of the rigging, so Nat had been sat on a boulder on the boulder slope whilst I rigged (and generally made unhappy sounds at the boulders). In this time, Nat had managed to sit on his nail varnish - breaking the neck & pour nail varnish all over himself & the boulder. :(</p>
<p>Anyway Nat joined me on the boulder floor. I had thought that this pitch was blind, but turned out there was a rift heading off. This was a short pitch, which Nat rigged. It wasn't easy as there was limited choice due to crap rock. But rig it he did & down he went - making unhappy noises at the boulders. I joined Nat at the bottom (~7m) and we were in the rift, surrounded by boulders wedged in the rift. It wasn't my favourite place in the world. The rift continued, which would mean climbing down, under the boulders. It is drafter.</p>
<p>We have decided this should be a QMB. It's a good sized lead & is drafting. However the boulder slope before isn't very nice & it's likely that the boulders will get worse. If this was to be pushed the rigging would need further thought. As there were other leads, we derigged this for this year.</p>
<p>
<UL><i>Rigging and pitch topo</UL></i></p>
<p>
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