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@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ maintain half a dozen parser functions.
Sorry about all the crap that surrounds the image tags which has been imported along with the content
when UK Caving blogs have been parsed.
Exported on 2024-08-09 00:08 using either the control panel webpage or when editing a logbook entry online
Exported on 2024-08-09 07:08 using either the control panel webpage or when editing a logbook entry online
See troggle/code/views/other.py and core.models/logbooks.py writelogbook(year, filename)
-->
<body>
@ -731,75 +731,6 @@ The tag for p2018-dm-04 is in the foreground, the tackle sack is near the beginn
<hr />
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-19c">2024-07-19</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Wookey</u>, Jono</div>
<div class="triptitle">Balconhoehle - Rigging Mongol Rally</div>
<p>Walked up to top camp in the evening ready for trip down
Balkonhoehle to get Mongol Raly rigged with Jono. I was somewhat
perplexed to find no sign of Jono, and still not as it went dark. He
eventually turned up about 10am the next morning. We had our gear to
carry over so it wasn't a particularly early start.</p>
<p>I had forgotten a load of the upper passages, but did at least
remember the obscure left turn for Honeycomb/Mongol Rally. Soon enough
we arrived at the end of the rigging part-way down hangmans, complete
with a rigging diag, some rope and a drill. Jono did this one,
complaining at the bottom that the bolts didn't match the diagram,
rigging a 2-bolt rebelay as a rather peculiar deviation. We realised
that we were starting part-way down the rigging diagram, not the top,
so he went back up to put it right whilst I continued to start Mongol
Rally. Dragging the gear through was the usual faff (someone should
just take a spade and make that crawl bigger).</p>
<p>So now it was my turn and I suited up with Anthony's nice new drill
and 125m of rope. The 25m didn't quite reach across the traverse with
a big thread round a boulder, so I put a bolt in the roof to improve
the rigging (another one just over the hole in the floor would make
the traverse line a lot more useful, I later realised). The rock was
impressively cheesy, with about 20mm of goo to remove before getting
to actual rock.</p>
<p>The rigging diagram suggested another bolt near the top so I added
one about 6m down on a nose to the right, only to realise that one had
probably already been done some previous year. I also realised at this
point that the tape on Anthony's drill bit was set rather too short
for reliable bolt-setting so adjusted it to give an extra 10mm of
hole. I then added another bolt on the left, replacing one in the
maximum rub-spot just under a lip (very odd placement). This finally
removed all the rubs on this top slope and actually made the
changeovers nicer, so I think it's an improvement. </p>
<p>Next dilemma was whether to use the bolt on a nose (with hanger
left behind) or the reflectored bolt on the well-used muddy route. The
nose was harder to get to but gave a nicer hang (and was suggested on
the rigging diagram). With a sling to help the changeover it actually
worked quite well, although maybe the obvious route would also work
fine - there is no way of knowing without trying both and I had faffed
enough by now. Continued down for another hour or so rigging
rebelays. The rigging guide is accurate. Hummed and hawed some more at
the odder bits of rigging trying to work out what 'better' might look
like. Left one bit (with a nearly horizontal deviation) some extra
rope to come back to and add a bolt if time allowed but pressed on
until the rope ran out, just on the same ledge that had had a knot
pass in 2022. Looks like that is where 100m gets you to.</p>
<p>We were out of time so called it a day and headed off out, only
realising on the way out that the rope bag we had left contained a
note 'top of mongol rally' in it so we had used the wrong one (misled
by the '25m' rope in the top matching the '25m' rope marked on the
topo for the traverse. Oh well.</p>
<p>Got out around 11:30, having had a very satisfying trip, Jono had
finally got underground and enjoyed himself. It was a chill trip with
almost zero stress, and we'd done enough to make a camping trip
feasible next time.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 10.5 hours</div>
<div class="editentry"><br /><a href="/logbookedit/2024-07-19c">Edit this entry</a><br /></div>
<hr />
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-20a">2024-07-20</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>PS</u>,Christian,Colin,Harry,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Bascamp - New arrivals</div>
@ -1154,7 +1085,7 @@ A good but chaotic trip
<style>
.uuI {
font-size: 40px;
font-family: "cursive", "Times New Roman";
font-family: "cursive", Times New Roman";
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@ -1276,96 +1207,6 @@ After our first stay up on the plateau we made a crossing back across the platea
<hr />
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-25i">2024-07-25</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Wookey</u>,Anthony Day, Jacob Chuck</div>
<div class="triptitle">Surface - Fixing Guten Morgen Höhle</div>
<p>My adopt-a-cave for this year was GMH (Guten Morgon Höhle), having
failed to sort it out last time I was here in 2022. And this was the
last day available to get it done, so research was done down at base
to make sure I had the necessary info - email threads, purported
locations, cave descriptions, lobbook entries, GPX tracks, and
Martin's 'mappapp' local copy (ish) of the website. And I went
shopping for stainless screws and HSS bits so we could put in tags,
and had drills, and instruments. We tried hard not to forget anything
important so this would actually work.</p>
<p>The weather was a rare case of a bit overcast, but not actually
raining, which is perfect for this work. It warmed up later in the day
but was relatively gentle on us, which is good because we walked for
bloody miles!</p>
<p>Tromped past Balkony following vague line of cairns, checking the
points on our map. Checkout 2023-ASH-10 and 2023-ASH-11 which defo
look worth investigating. Then got
to <a href="../../1623/2012-OK-01/2012-OK-01.html">2012-OK-01</a> which
is of course one of mine, from the fabled 'Wook and Olaf walk to
Appelhaus' trip of 2012. There were a couple of obvious shafts which
we photoed, but they didn't fit my recollection of OK-01 which was a
smaller shaft under an alcove. Soon we found the right hole just 6m
away, but not obvious due to being 'tucked under' a small cliff.</p>
<p>We put in a new concrete-screw tag for "2012 OK 01", only to find
it already tagged just round the corner as
<a href="../../1623/2017-NR-02/2017-NR-02.html">2017-NR-02</a>. So in fact
it has been explored, tagged, located, photoed and sketch-surveyed for
7 years, so we can kataster this one.</p>
<p>Next we passed 2012-OK-02 which still needs descending so far as we
can tell. Easy job. We put our cave-blinkers back on in an attempt to
actually get the job we intended to do done. Wook had carefully put
the alleged GPS of GMH on his phone (neither it nor shagged-spit was
in the 2024 entrances list). The back-up plan was that Anthony had
been there before a mere decade ago so could hopefully re-find
them. Fortunately the GPS was spot-on for the GMH entrance, which had
a nice tag saying <a href="../../1623/2015-DL-02/2015-DL-02.html">"2015
DL 02"</a> so one wonders quite how "Chossy Death Slope Höhle" got
renamed and no-record of this correspondence made it into a logbook. A
short wander up-cliff found the
also-tagged <a href="../../1623/2015-DL-01/2015-DL-01.html">2015 DL
01</a> (Shagged Spit Höhle). We GPSed (GPS on the eponymous shagged
spit for about 40 mins) and photoed that location whilst also doing a
'from-the-surface' SAP6 survey.</p>
<p>So now both 2015-DL-01 and 2015-DL-02 are explored, located,
photoed, tagged and surveyed sufficiently to get
katastered. Result. Job done.</p>
<p>Time was moving on and we had a dinner to get back to this evg so
we headed back, looking
for <a href="../../1623/2012-dd-04/2012-dd-04.html">2012-dd-04</a> on the
way back. Despite our best efforts we stumbled onto an entrance too
fine to ignore and so spent 40 mins GPSing, tagging and surveying
(from the surface) 2024-JC-01. (See how the wiley old lags carefully
made this one Jacob&apos;s responsibility :-) It&apos;s quite a big
hading shaft entrance about 12m x 2m with a 4m cliff behind and at
least 17m deep. There was a nice boulder for a survey station but it
looked a bit dodgy and shove sent it crashing down the hole so we were
wise not to use that one. Tag is to LH end of the hole. GPS point and
intermediate point are red nail-varnish marked.</p>
<p>dd-04 was a tiny bit elusive, although Anthony&apos;s GPS took him
nearly straight there whilst Wookey&apos;s took him 20m away jus tthe
wrong side of a ridge and then he was marooned by bunde for a while,
but eventually re-found the others. jacob had shoved himself into the
hole but it was about 1.5 cavers long and thus not big enough to be
katasterable. We tagged it anyway.</p>
<p>Now it really was time to hot-foot it home so we headed back,
passing the (tagged) caves 277, 272 and 2012-FT-02. There really are
quite a lot of holes round here.</p>
<p>Anthony and I collected the rest of our shit and we all headed
briskly down the hill for the final time this year, which was good
because I really did have quite sore feet by the end of the day after
more than 7km of that ridiculous pointy terrain. We even arrived in
good time for Tess to rescue us and take us to a fine dinner</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: Jacob: 2mins</div>
<div class="editentry"><br /><a href="/logbookedit/2024-07-25i">Edit this entry</a><br /></div>
<hr />
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-26a">2024-07-26</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Isaac</u>,Marie,Jono,</div>
<div class="triptitle">basecamp - Bread making part 2</div>
@ -1391,11 +1232,11 @@ We waited until the evening due to the hot weather to go up to Garlic camp. This
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-26c">2024-07-26</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Todd Rye</u>,Harry Kettle,Aila Taylor,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Eishoehle - Cooling off on a hot day</div>
We weren&apos;t going to have time to go properly caving, and we had heard good things about the ice cave. So, armed with Shinwell and Wookeys expert guidance, we set off to find what we were hoping was going to be an impressive chamber.
We weren't going to have time to go properly caving, and we had heard good things about the ice cave. So, armed with Shinwell and Wookeys expert guidance, we set off to find what we were hoping was going to be an impressive chamber.
<p>
The walk started off simply, and we soon found the bolt to mark the divergence from the official paths. The route description got us up to the Bunters Bulge, with the absence of any red markings mentioned. From here, the red markings were still not present, but there is a smattering of cairns to lead the way. A small amount of being lost later, and we were scrambling down to the original entrance, an impressively large entrance. The scramble towards Elephant entrance was helped by some stemples, and we soon found ourselves in the frigid draft, looking at a snow plug.
<p>
Kitted up with ice axes and crampons, we headed down the snow slope and into the Schneevulkanhalle. Wow, just Wow... The chamber itself would be impressive enough, but the ice formations were incredible. We wandered around and spent some time photographing the place. Some scrambling around, we found various pools of water in the glacier which we decided to not fall into. The far end of the chamber had an impressive false floor, which i walked over to to go underneath it, but was stopped by the ice under my feet sounding quite hollow, so I noped out of there. The next adventure was Harry and I climbing up the snow volcano, with Aila looking on disapprovingly at the Boys being Morons. I stopped half way up, deciding that it was quite steep. Harry, with less of a sense of self preservation, made it to the top, and some more photos were taken. Harry had a fun time coming down, the only time I&apos;ve heard him admit to being scared.
Kitted up with ice axes and crampons, we headed down the snow slope and into the Schneevulkanhalle. Wow, just Wow... The chamber itself would be impressive enough, but the ice formations were incredible. We wandered around and spent some time photographing the place. Some scrambling around, we found various pools of water in the glacier which we decided to not fall into. The far end of the chamber had an impressive false floor, which i walked over to to go underneath it, but was stopped by the ice under my feet sounding quite hollow, so I noped out of there. The next adventure was Harry and I climbing up the snow volcano, with Aila looking on disapprovingly at the Boys being Morons. I stopped half way up, deciding that it was quite steep. Harry, with less of a sense of self preservation, made it to the top, and some more photos were taken. Harry had a fun time coming down, the only time I've heard him admit to being scared.
<p>
After this, we headed back, creating a GPX track to make it easier for future expoers to find. We were told that sadly, impressive as it was, the formations were a shadow of their former selves. Go sooner rather than later.
<div class="timeug">T/U: 1.0 hours</div>
@ -1421,30 +1262,32 @@ The entrance series flew by, and I was having a great time reminiscing. Soon we
<p>
At the bottom of this epic pitch series, I saw Harry and Ailas lights disappear down a passage, so I headed to it, finding a traverse that Aila would not have done without loud complaining, so I turned back. Chi told me that the way on was down below, so I opted to climb down an alternate way. Suddenly, my head was below my feet, and I tumbled 3m down a climb, landing on a bouldery floor. A distinct amount of swearing occurred whilst I tried to figure out what was broken. Chi rounded a corner at speed, highly concerned about my wellbeing. Rescue from here would not be fun. Although I was in a not insignificant amount of pain, nothing seemed to be broken, Chi fed me some sweets, and we pressed on.
<p>
The traverses were alright for my long legs, but Ailas short legs didn&apos;t enjoy them at all. We soon got to Camp, and set up the tent and sleeping bags. It was less than ideal, but we could squeeze in four. Then it was back up the pitch to start down Flowstone Canyon (thrutchy and awkward), Alpine Showers (traversy and awkward) and down some pitches (with awkward pitchheads) to the pushing front.
The traverses were alright for my long legs, but Ailas short legs didn't enjoy them at all. We soon got to Camp, and set up the tent and sleeping bags. It was less than ideal, but we could squeeze in four. Then it was back up the pitch to start down Flowstone Canyon (thrutchy and awkward), Alpine Showers (traversy and awkward) and down some pitches (with awkward pitchheads) to the pushing front.
<p>
Chi set about bolting a traverse whilst Harry, Aila and I got the surveying kit out, finding a numbered station. The disto was produced, and I started to get ready to shoot the first leg, but noticed that the Disto was in calibration mode. Shit. We tried to get it into the proper mode but nothing we did worked. Double shit.
<p>
We deliberated on what to do, and finally settled on scooping and then coming back to survey at a later date. Aila was trained in surveying, with Harry showing her how to take notes, and me making up numbers, leading to a very odd cave. Chi dropped a pitch, which I followed him down, but the bottom led to more pitch, so Aila and I decided to head to camp. It was a long slog back to camp, and we arrived at 2330. Some pasta was had, and we turned in. Harry and Chi came back at 0100, and told us they&apos;d dropped some more pitches and killed the lead. Arse. All that for nothing.
We deliberated on what to do, and finally settled on scooping and then coming back to survey at a later date. Aila was trained in surveying, with Harry showing her how to take notes, and me making up numbers, leading to a very odd cave. Chi dropped a pitch, which I followed him down, but the bottom led to more pitch, so Aila and I decided to head to camp. It was a long slog back to camp, and we arrived at 2330. Some pasta was had, and we turned in. Harry and Chi came back at 0100, and told us they'd dropped some more pitches and killed the lead. Arse. All that for nothing.
<p>
The next morning, we slowly got ready, dismantling camp. It was going to be a long slog up, and starting on the traverses was a tiring way to start. Strained by Gravity went by vaguely quickly, and soon we stopped to fill up bottles and have noodles. We got up the entrance series relatively quickly and exited finally around 1730 on the 28th. Not the best trip, but no one died. I&apos;m sure there will be other trip reports for this trip.
The next morning, we slowly got ready, dismantling camp. It was going to be a long slog up, and starting on the traverses was a tiring way to start. Strained by Gravity went by vaguely quickly, and soon we stopped to fill up bottles and have noodles. We got up the entrance series relatively quickly and exited finally around 1730 on the 28th. Not the best trip, but no one died. I'm sure there will be other trip reports for this trip.
<div class="timeug">T/U: 31.0 hours</div>
<div class="editentry"><br /><a href="/logbookedit/2024-07-27b">Edit this entry</a><br /></div>
<hr />
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-27c">2024-07-27</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Aidan K</u>,James M,Rosa B,</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Aidan K</u>,Rosa B,James M,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Homecoming - Sauruman Pot</div>
<p>With James having replaces his mentor in our trio of pushing in the upper area of Homecoming, Rosa and I returned to our pushing in the big drippy Aven in the 4th Pitch Tube area which we believed would lead to what we were looking down to from Banana Slip.
With James having replaces his mentor in our trio of pushing in the upper area of Homecoming, Rosa and I returned to our pushing in the big drippy Aven in the 4th Pitch Tube area which we believed would lead to what we were looking down to from Banana Slip.
<p>
Rosa placed the first bolt for the traverse line - her second ever bolt! - and I rebolted the pitch head (there were two spit there already but I couldn&apos;t find any nuts for them anywhere around HC or GC so lovely new fixe expansions it was! I dropped the 20m pitch down into a fair sized ledge with two ways on - I first opted to go the shorter dryer way with the hope it would connect round to the rest of the big aven, using less bolts and rope. One side of this pitchhead is a drilled thread, the other a lovely bolt. This got down to a perfect end of the 25m rope and lead to a 2m climb.This later turned out to be Snagged and Shagged. There wasn&apos;t any clear promising leads here so I left Rosa and James to make the rigging topo for me and explore the area while I went on to continue bolting the pot.
Rosa placed the first bolt for the traverse line - her second ever bolt! - and I rebolted the pitch head (there were two spit there already but I couldn't find any nuts for them anywhere around HC or GC so lovely new fixe expansions it was! I dropped the 20m pitch down into a fair sized ledge with two ways on - I first opted to go the shorter dryer way with the hope it would connect round to the rest of the big aven, using less bolts and rope. One side of this pitchhead is a drilled thread, the other a lovely bolt. This got down to a perfect end of the 25m rope and lead to a 2m climb.This later turned out to be Snagged and Shagged. There wasn't any clear promising leads here so I left Rosa and James to make the rigging topo for me and explore the area while I went on to continue bolting the pot.
<p>
A perfect height pitchead was placed which felt a very reasonably distance from the ledge. Unfortunately, with the nature of the rock there was immediately some pretty shit rope rope. The next 15 minutes was spent trying to figure out how to ameliorate this. Lots of time was spent trying to create a deviation below and right, but nothing was far enough back to fix the hang without then making me abseil straight into a pool of water. While this faff was going on, a rock ((tatty hut little printer sized) which I previously been solidly heel hooking and holding decided to come loose, missing me but being very exciting when it hit the tacklebag and then hitting the deck. I abandoned hopes over here and decided to swing the other way into the drippy aven and found a nice fault for a ledge for my feet so placed a rebelay and then used that to help me swing across to a nice ledge in a dry area where I bolted a traverse across and then rigged a short pitch down to the streamway below.
<p>
It should be noted that while I&apos;m doing this Rosa managed to almost climb down snagged and shagged into the bottom of the pot, except she got stuck and from the walls I could see her light and hear her shout for me to come and help her - not something I was in much position to do so James went to her aid. She also didn&apos;t sound like she was in any real peril, just mabe unable to get her way back out so I figured I could always head back up with the drill and rope if it were really necessary.
It should be noted that while I'm doing this Rosa managed to almost climb down snagged and shagged into the bottom of the pot, except she got stuck and from the walls I could see her light and hear her shout for me to come and help her - not something I was in much position to do so James went to her aid. She also didn't sound like she was in any real peril, just mabe unable to get her way back out so I figured I could always head back up with the drill and rope if it were really necessary.
<p>
We named the pot Tiered Gerkin and the Streamway Bannaboat Streamway at the time, but since then and the time of writing this up we&apos;ve renamed the pot Saruman. The streamway is unfortunately too short to be worth naming.
We named the pot Tiered Gerkin and the Streamway Bannaboat Streamway at the time, but since then and the time of writing this up we've renamed the pot Saruman. The streamway is unfortunately too short to be worth naming.
Note for clarity: the streamway was too short because it immediately descended into the two pitches that precede the Eye of Sauron.
<div class="timeug">T/U: 6.0 hours</div>
<div class="editentry"><br /><a href="/logbookedit/2024-07-27c">Edit this entry</a><br /></div>
@ -1481,7 +1324,7 @@ walked to garlic. once at homecoming it started pissing with rain. then landscap
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-28d">2024-07-28</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>R Brew</u>,James W,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Garlic - Failed prospecting</div>
I woke up excited for a day of prospecting for the first time but instead had a very disheartened day with pretty low morale as the plateau was full of mist and it being determined unsafe to go off exploring the plateau as well as making the task more challenging. Colin decided we may do some prospecting but we&apos;d find the caves earlier than expected by falling down the holes.
I woke up excited for a day of prospecting for the first time but instead had a very disheartened day with pretty low morale as the plateau was full of mist and it being determined unsafe to go off exploring the plateau as well as making the task more challenging. Colin decided we may do some prospecting but we'd find the caves earlier than expected by falling down the holes.
Got permission to descend to base camp that evening due to a large number of blisters on my hands and low morale. Due to James W becoming unwell he joined me on the journey to be collected by Jono and Christopher.
<div class="timeug">T/U: 0.0 hours</div>
<div class="editentry"><br /><a href="/logbookedit/2024-07-28d">Edit this entry</a><br /></div>
@ -1495,28 +1338,28 @@ Got permission to descend to base camp that evening due to a large number of bli
<p>
Turning up at expo on the night of The Dinner, I had expected a few days of festering, fettling, and carrying, but found myself agreeing to a 4 day camp with Nat D after he spotted me inspecting the Balcony map.
<p>
The next day we faffed and faffed some more, then set off well after noon in Sarah&apos;s car. The day was hot. I soaked myself in the waterfall to start the walk,carrying all of my camping and caving kit with trepidation. I loudly announced to the group that heat gives me diarrhoea- already feeling quite unsettled in the tummy. My previous walks in 2022 had left me dreading the length of the plateau walk. Fortunately the dread made the reality feel shorter than remembered. A breeze kept us cool as me Nat Sarah and Zak slowly trundled to top camp, nattering with Nat about all sorts of gossip.
The next day we faffed and faffed some more, then set off well after noon in Sarah's car. The day was hot. I soaked myself in the waterfall to start the walk,carrying all of my camping and caving kit with trepidation. I loudly announced to the group that heat gives me diarrhoea- already feeling quite unsettled in the tummy. My previous walks in 2022 had left me dreading the length of the plateau walk. Fortunately the dread made the reality feel shorter than remembered. A breeze kept us cool as me Nat Sarah and Zak slowly trundled to top camp, nattering with Nat about all sorts of gossip.
<p>
We faffed some more at top camp, waiting for Jacob and Lara to join us from garlic camp, and I sat on the gryke hoping to shit as much as possible pre cave.
<p>
We set off for balcony in the early evening, and struggled under the heavy loads. We split into 2 teams: Nat Lara and I, Zac Jacob and Sarah (SEE ZAC&apos;S REPORT OF HIS TRIP - FEATURING HAND JAMMERS AT HIGH VELOCITY). I said farewell to the light and was VERY happy to find the big balcony pitch rope thinner than 2022&apos;s - the Stop cramp only had to be relived every 40 seconds!
We set off for balcony in the early evening, and struggled under the heavy loads. We split into 2 teams: Nat Lara and I, Zac Jacob and Sarah (SEE ZAC'S REPORT OF HIS TRIP - FEATURING HAND JAMMERS AT HIGH VELOCITY). I said farewell to the light and was VERY happy to find the big balcony pitch rope thinner than 2022's - the Stop cramp only had to be relived every 40 seconds!
<p>
Then began the wiggling, sliding, slipping, and thrutching, descending and changing, clipping and crawling.
<p>
I had a mixed relationship with my 2 tackle bags, which I named The Toddler (small red) and The Teeneger (Becka&apos;s massive bag that matched my oversuit and apparently looked just like me - CAN I ADD A PICTURE HERE?). We had many disagreements in the crawls, and they enjoyed resting upsidedown on every ledge. NAt&apos;s 'purple juice' (meths) was resting at the very top of the teenager, and I&apos;ve no idea what miracle kept it flying out onto Lara below. It defied gravity until it finally slipped out at rest at the very bottom of Mongol Rally.
I had a mixed relationship with my 2 tackle bags, which I named The Toddler (small red) and The Teeneger (Becka's massive bag that matched my oversuit and apparently looked just like me - CAN I ADD A PICTURE HERE?). We had many disagreements in the crawls, and they enjoyed resting upsidedown on every ledge. NAt's 'purple juice' (meths) was resting at the very top of the teenager, and I've no idea what miracle kept it flying out onto Lara below. It defied gravity until it finally slipped out at rest at the very bottom of Mongol Rally.
<p>
We reached the camp sometime around midnight. I was shattered and provided very little help to Nat&apos;s attempt to bolt in 2 hammocks. The wind steamed down the passage and stole any remaining heat. By the time the other 3 turned up I was shivering strongly.
We reached the camp sometime around midnight. I was shattered and provided very little help to Nat's attempt to bolt in 2 hammocks. The wind steamed down the passage and stole any remaining heat. By the time the other 3 turned up I was shivering strongly.
<p>
Then the first 'accident' was discovered. I had been putting off my urgent need for a poo for all evening. We looked around for the poo drum... kept looking... kept looking. And no one had it. We looked at our supplies. Resealable freezdried meal bags: perfect for shitting in. Porridge sashes: sort of papery. Deciding they made a decent 'glove' for wiping, we emptied all the porridge bags. Only after walking 10m up the passage did I discover the pile of biobags left there! Still the porridge sashes were required. I would not review them highly: more plastic than paper, but desperate times....
<p>
I woke in the night even more uncomforatble than before, with a feeling of dread. I visited the 'toilet' and found blood every where. O dear. I hadn&apos;t been due my period for 2 weeks but life has its ways of punishing you. Explains how awful I felt the day before, and then. 4am wasn&apos;t the time to deal with this fact, so I returned to me sleeping bag, shattered, and restless for everyone to get up.
I woke in the night even more uncomforatble than before, with a feeling of dread. I visited the 'toilet' and found blood every where. O dear. I hadn't been due my period for 2 weeks but life has its ways of punishing you. Explains how awful I felt the day before, and then. 4am wasn't the time to deal with this fact, so I returned to me sleeping bag, shattered, and restless for everyone to get up.
<p>
Get up they did, and I brought up my inconvenient fact. I felt mixed feelings to learn that Nat, Sarah and the first aid kit had a handful of tampons between them. I had never used a tampon. I did not think I would learn to use them in a grubby cold cave 100s of meters under ground. It did not go very well.
<p>
Feeling exhausted, sick, pained and cramping, I dragged myself through the day. I followed Nat and Lara to push an A lead in the north of Southern Pitstop
(SEE ZAC&apos;S REPORT FOR THE OTHER TEAM&apos;S DAY OF PUSHING). My attempt to do my bit was far more of a burden than a help, and I had tampon related disasters through the day, as well as the dreaded period poos, greatly exceeding the quota of 1.5 porridge sashes a day.
(SEE ZAC'S REPORT FOR THE OTHER TEAM'S DAY OF PUSHING). My attempt to do my bit was far more of a burden than a help, and I had tampon related disasters through the day, as well as the dreaded period poos, greatly exceeding the quota of 1.5 porridge sashes a day.
<p>
I did however bolt properly for the first time. I should probably have said no when Nat asked me to bolt a descent but I said alright. I suspended awkwardly over a large drop, struggling to find the arm strength to hold the drill out and install 3 bolts. I&apos;m sure the others were very cold by the time I got to the bottom but it was, at least, a good learning experience.
I did however bolt properly for the first time. I should probably have said no when Nat asked me to bolt a descent but I said alright. I suspended awkwardly over a large drop, struggling to find the arm strength to hold the drill out and install 3 bolts. I'm sure the others were very cold by the time I got to the bottom but it was, at least, a good learning experience.
<p>
I got changed for a piss by the waterfall - this would come back to haunt me later, then we ascended up the other side.
<p>
@ -1532,21 +1375,21 @@ Ah well. Strongly suspecting (hoping) what had happened, there was nothing for i
<p>
Onwards, up the rope: stand, yank through the chest ascender, sit, repeat, with jammers refusing to grip. By this point Nat and Lara had caught up, so I waited and incredibly kindly they offered to take my bag.
<p>
I headed on as they derigged. This was my next mistake. 'Don&apos;t get lost' Nat said. I got lost. After the white aven there were many ways on. I follwed the muddy footsteps across and up, but grew suspicous. I decided it was safest to turn around. I turned around but did not find myslef back at the white aven. Two more tries and I was at a slope that looked familiar, so I headed up and reached two ways. I followed the muddy footsteps up, but grew suspicous. On your own it is very hard to trust yourself. I turned around, shattered, concerned. And, thank goodness, met Lara and Nat. I took back a tackle bag and we headed up the other junction, which we soon realised was wrong and returned up my way. Trudge, sigh, plod.
I headed on as they derigged. This was my next mistake. 'Don't get lost' Nat said. I got lost. After the white aven there were many ways on. I follwed the muddy footsteps across and up, but grew suspicous. I decided it was safest to turn around. I turned around but did not find myslef back at the white aven. Two more tries and I was at a slope that looked familiar, so I headed up and reached two ways. I followed the muddy footsteps up, but grew suspicous. On your own it is very hard to trust yourself. I turned around, shattered, concerned. And, thank goodness, met Lara and Nat. I took back a tackle bag and we headed up the other junction, which we soon realised was wrong and returned up my way. Trudge, sigh, plod.
<p>
We reached the camp. The others were there already. Dinner. Jacob kindly said that, if no one else was willing, he would be happy to go out with me a day early. I was so grateful as there was no way I could stay longer. Shivering. Bed. (waking for toilet visits :,( )
<p>
Rising at 9:40, the plan was revised: Zac would also leave too, using a microtraction as a jammer (having lost both hand jammer and pantin). Porridge. Noodles. Packing. Washing our gear in the muddy puddle. We headed off. I somehow managed to get lost finding the bottom of mongol rally, but eventually did. I heard zac calling from above, in pain. It took an age to dig out the ibruprofen, and I was shocked how slow I could prussick. It was misreable. Pantin uterly useless. Rope refusing to feed. Stand. Drag thtough chest asecnder. Sit. Ascenders slip. Ascenders grip. Repeat. I haven&apos;t prussicked this slowly since my first time. My tackle bag tangled itself in the down rope at a rebelay and I had to down prussick, to some strong words. A shocking anount of time later I reached zac on his ledge and got him the ibruprofen. And he taught me how to properly frog, and drag the rope through with your feet. I&apos;m an idiot for never having learnt to do that before. Mongol Rally was slighlty improved.
Rising at 9:40, the plan was revised: Zac would also leave too, using a microtraction as a jammer (having lost both hand jammer and pantin). Porridge. Noodles. Packing. Washing our gear in the muddy puddle. We headed off. I somehow managed to get lost finding the bottom of mongol rally, but eventually did. I heard zac calling from above, in pain. It took an age to dig out the ibruprofen, and I was shocked how slow I could prussick. It was misreable. Pantin uterly useless. Rope refusing to feed. Stand. Drag thtough chest asecnder. Sit. Ascenders slip. Ascenders grip. Repeat. I haven't prussicked this slowly since my first time. My tackle bag tangled itself in the down rope at a rebelay and I had to down prussick, to some strong words. A shocking anount of time later I reached zac on his ledge and got him the ibruprofen. And he taught me how to properly frog, and drag the rope through with your feet. I'm an idiot for never having learnt to do that before. Mongol Rally was slighlty improved.
<p>
We headed up, and up, and up, and finally huddled in the bivvy at the top. Hangman&apos;s was impressive (and cold). Honeycomb was much longer than I remember. Debating the way, succesfully, I was rather shocked to realise we were at the junction with hilti a plenti. I hadn&apos;t thought to imagine reaching the end.
We headed up, and up, and up, and finally huddled in the bivvy at the top. Hangman's was impressive (and cold). Honeycomb was much longer than I remember. Debating the way, succesfully, I was rather shocked to realise we were at the junction with hilti a plenti. I hadn't thought to imagine reaching the end.
<p>
Sarah&apos;s weather report had predicted a thunder storm that evening. We were fully prepared to huddle at the bottom of the entrance. But, to happy suprise, the drips were slow. I went last (regretting this offer, and desperately uncomfortable). But I had lot of time to sing as Jacob and Zac ascended. The happiest feeling of all, to see the shadow of light from the penultimate pitch, to haul off the final rope, to crawl out into a blue sky.
Sarah's weather report had predicted a thunder storm that evening. We were fully prepared to huddle at the bottom of the entrance. But, to happy suprise, the drips were slow. I went last (regretting this offer, and desperately uncomfortable). But I had lot of time to sing as Jacob and Zac ascended. The happiest feeling of all, to see the shadow of light from the penultimate pitch, to haul off the final rope, to crawl out into a blue sky.
<p>
The evening was utterly beautiful. The forecast was wrong. Pink light filled the horizon, silhouetting mountains. The evening air still warm. Why would you go underground from this? To appreciate it more I suppose.
<p>
I was dizzy trudging back, Jacob kindly, patiently accompanying my stumbling. We reached Stoney Bridge as the light faded and stars brightened. Big Tom and Becka in residence, and Tom a saint making us food. Unbelievably happy to bin the tampon I had been using for far too long (I will never use one again - awful things!) and have some proper toilet paper.
<p>
We slept out under the shooting stars and milky way. Every time I woke, relieved, to have escaped balcony, and see brightness in the night&apos;s dark, under starlight.
We slept out under the shooting stars and milky way. Every time I woke, relieved, to have escaped balcony, and see brightness in the night's dark, under starlight.
<div class="timeug">T/U: 50.0 hours</div>
<div class="editentry"><br /><a href="/logbookedit/2024-07-28e">Edit this entry</a><br /></div>
@ -1565,10 +1408,10 @@ After some noodles and smash, I all but passed out into a fitful nights sleep.
</p>
<h1>The 'A' lead</h1>
<p>Having arrived into camp at 1:30 the night before, needles to say it was a late start the next day, made even later by all the faffing. Me, Jacob and Sarah would push a more vertical lead while Nat, Lucy and Lara would push a more horizontal one.
Kit assembled, the three of us headed out along the piss soaked Southern Pit-stop. Then was some Faffigating and a few wrong turns before we reached our lead. Jacob set the first two bolts leading to the pitch while I then took over and bolted and rigged the Y hang at the top of the pitch. It took ages to find two spots suitable amongst the cheese like rock. But once we had, and Sarah had re-tied my Y hang, I descended to the ledge bellow. Here I swiftly put in another bolt and fixed it with a fig-8 before clearing some space for Sarah to follow. Together we then looked for a suitable place for the next bolt to finish the Y hang and begin drop the next small pitch. The first bolt I tried set was fucked by virtue of the fact that the bolt itself bent as I was hammering it in (probably because I was hammering at a different angle to the one I drilled). The bottom of this pitch didn&apos;t go anywhere save for a narrow horizontal rift. Surveying time. I had to ascend both legs to fulfil my role as dog and mark the first survey station. From there, I slowly re-descended with Jacob in tow operating the SAP. Once at the bottom again, I shimmied into the rift and was near frozen by the dramatic draft. The rift tightened after five meters into a sideways crawl which led into a narrow squeeze. I gardened some rubble out of the way to get this far. Beyond the squeeze was an even narrower (too narrow to pass) hole in the floor. This was the source of the draft. I dropped some rocks down and heard them clatter for ages. I even swear I heard one splosh. Once the survey was complete, we headed back up, Jacob de-rigging. Unfortunately, two of the bolts at the top of the pitch couldn&apos;t be loosened, even with a pair of pliers. This meant we lost two hangers.
Kit assembled, the three of us headed out along the piss soaked Southern Pit-stop. Then was some Faffigating and a few wrong turns before we reached our lead. Jacob set the first two bolts leading to the pitch while I then took over and bolted and rigged the Y hang at the top of the pitch. It took ages to find two spots suitable amongst the cheese like rock. But once we had, and Sarah had re-tied my Y hang, I descended to the ledge bellow. Here I swiftly put in another bolt and fixed it with a fig-8 before clearing some space for Sarah to follow. Together we then looked for a suitable place for the next bolt to finish the Y hang and begin drop the next small pitch. The first bolt I tried set was fucked by virtue of the fact that the bolt it's self bent as I was hammering it in (probably because I was hammering at a different angle to the one I drilled). The bottom of this pitch didn't go anywhere save for a narrow horizontal rift. Surveying time. I had to ascend both legs to fulfil my role as dog and mark the first survey station. From there, I slowly re-descended with Jacob in tow operating the SAP. Once at the bottom again, I shimmied into the rift and was near frozen by the dramatic draft. The rift tightened after five meters into a sideways crawl which led into a narrow squeeze. I gardened some rubble out of the way to get this far. Beyond the squeeze was an even narrower (too narrow to pass) hole in the floor. This was the source of the draft. I dropped some rocks down and heard them clatter for ages. I even swear I heard one splosh. Once the survey was complete, we headed back up, Jacob de-rigging. Unfortunately, two of the bolts at the top of the pitch couldn't be loosened, even with a pair of pliers. This meant we lost two hangers.
Surveying done, we headed back to camp where we were the first back. To occupy ourselves, me and Jacob looked for loose rocks we could use to cover the mud slopes around camp. Unfortunately, when the others returned our efforts did not receive the thanks we had anticipated.</p>
<h1>Up and Out</h1>
<p>It was another late start the following day. Having made the effort of getting down there (and scared to ascend) I wanted to try for another day, but Lara pointed out that I looked fucked, and, to be fair, I was. So I joined Lucy and Jacob on their early ascent. Using a Micro-traction I&apos;d borrowed from Sarah as a hand jammer, we packed what we needed and set off to the wash spot. I led the way but after the first two pitches of Mongol Rally had to stop as my arms were killing me. I removed my Elbow pads as they were limiting my movement and then waited for Lucy to catch up so I could pinch some Painkillers. They worked wonders and it felt like no time at all before we reached the top of Mongol rally.
<p>It was another late start the following day. Having made the effort of getting down there (and scared to ascend) I wanted to try for another day, but Lara pointed out that I looked fucked, and, to be fair, I was. So I joined Lucy and Jacob on their early ascent. Using a Micro-traction I'd borrowed from Sarah as a hand jammer, we packed what we needed and set off to the wash spot. I led the way but after the first two pitches of Mongol Rally had to stop as my arms were killing me. I removed my Elbow pads as they were limiting my movement and then waited for Lucy to catch up so I could pinch some Painkillers. They worked wonders and it felt like no time at all before we reached the top of Mongol rally.
All our cleaning work was undone by the small crawl to the base of Hangman. I also had a look down the hole that swallowed my hand-jammer only to find that it was far to deep to drop. We then made our way out mostly at my pace. The rigging on Honey combe being a particular bastard for passing up. It also seemed to go on much longer than I remembered. From there it felt like a quick jaunt to the entrance series, the second pitch of which was a right bastard after 50 hours underground.
I was so happy to find that we had made it out in time to catch the sun and spent the night out sleeping on the plateau.</p>
<div class="timeug">T/U: 50.0 hours</div>
@ -1579,9 +1422,9 @@ I was so happy to find that we had made it out in time to catch the sun and spen
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-28g">2024-07-28</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Aidan K</u>,Colin Foord,James M,Rosa B,James W,Dickon,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Garlic - Landscaping and Festering</div>
We woke up to some pretty miserable clag that around 10am developed into rain - Colin had fortunately arrived about 40 minutes prior from SB so stayed dry, Dickon and James on the other hand weren&apos;t so lucky! They both got fairly wet on their walk over.
We woke up to some pretty miserable clag that around 10am developed into rain - Colin had fortunately arrived about 40 minutes prior from SB so stayed dry, Dickon and James on the other hand weren't so lucky! They both got fairly wet on their walk over.
<p>
With not much to do - no desire to explore a drippy lead with a very uncertain forecast and it being too claggy to achieve much prospecting we resolved to landscape garlic when we realised we were potentially going to be short on sleeping sports when the Watershed camp emerged that evening. We managed to level and expand the two person annex, build out the main areas width so there&apos;s more space, battle two camp beds, and Dickon leveled a one bed space down in Gollum&apos;s Hole where he setup a bed, read some of my book on the Geology of Snowdonia, and did a lot of napping.
With not much to do - no desire to explore a drippy lead with a very uncertain forecast and it being too claggy to achieve much prospecting we resolved to landscape garlic when we realised we were potentially going to be short on sleeping sports when the Watershed camp emerged that evening. We managed to level and expand the two person annex, build out the main areas width so there's more space, battle two camp beds, and Dickon leveled a one bed space down in Gollum's Hole where he setup a bed, read some of my book on the Geology of Snowdonia, and did a lot of napping.
<p>
In the evening, when it finally brightened up a bit, James, Dickon and I summitted the Kleiner Wildkogel. Dickon enjoyed tumbling the big loose rocks down the slope for the hell of it and it gave us a very interesting view of the plateau and an insight into the comples nature of the folding in the rock. We tried to assess new prospecting areas and it looked like along and up from Balkon and don the plateau to the thick Bunde areas would be the most promising. This was with a view to help Dickon with his prospecting the next day.
<div class="timeug">T/U: 0.0 hours</div>
@ -1601,7 +1444,7 @@ Upon waking, the inevitable morning faff ensued, accompanied by the perpetual ro
<p>
We split into 2 teams, with Chris & Jono going to bolt a pitch near camp, and Ellie, Becka & myself heading for Tartarus, where the previous team had stashed the second drill, along with the promise of draughting leads.
<p>
Making good time through Northern Powerhouse & Medusa&apos;s Maze, we arrived at an unnamed 4 way junction, where Becka said "There&apos;s some QMBs around here, maybe we should take a look in case we don't fancy the Tartarus leads"
Making good time through Northern Powerhouse & Medusa's Maze, we arrived at an unnamed 4 way junction, where Becka said "There's some QMBs around here, maybe we should take a look in case we don't fancy the Tartarus leads"
It turned out we were in the wrong place, so after a bit of a mooch about, we continued down the passage, passing through the bottom of a big chamber and down a short handline to a very different passage type, interconnected parallel ramps with a Swiss-Cheesy nature.
This was the location of the leads Becka had mentioned, and she & Ellie soon disappeared up a rift to the North to investigate a QMB.
Whilst stood at this junction, I noticed some definite air movement, which was quickly attributed to an upwards ramp with a distinctive 'frog spawn' texture to the floor.
@ -1616,11 +1459,11 @@ I wriggled around under the choke for a while, finding a chimney narrow enough t
The further into the chamber I got, the bigger it seemed to grow (along with my excitement), whilst Becka & Ellie watched proceedings somewhat apprehensively from the floor below.
<p>
A second, much safer climb onto another jammed boulder entered the chamber properly, where I began to take in the scale of the place, trying (failing) to light it up, and bouncing echos off the walls.
I returned to the deck completely buzzing, trying to communicate what I&apos;d just seen, and insisting we must return with a drill & rope asap!
I returned to the deck completely buzzing, trying to communicate what I'd just seen, and insisting we must return with a drill & rope asap!
<p>
This meant somewhat reluctantly slogging off to Tartarus, where we decided we&apos;d make the most of the day checking out some leads in Ichthyes. We spent a while trying to work out the way to the pushing front, clambering up and down in the rift, before deciding we were liable to run out of time to do anything useful. We then returned to a QMB we had passed on the way, resulting in a very quick and satisfying loop closure between 2 leads, finding a hole down and the continuation of a draughting rift behind a pillar, before returning to camp.
This meant somewhat reluctantly slogging off to Tartarus, where we decided we'd make the most of the day checking out some leads in Ichthyes. We spent a while trying to work out the way to the pushing front, clambering up and down in the rift, before deciding we were liable to run out of time to do anything useful. We then returned to a QMB we had passed on the way, resulting in a very quick and satisfying loop closure between 2 leads, finding a hole down and the continuation of a draughting rift behind a pillar, before returning to camp.
<p>
A planned early start the next day was stalled slightly by Jono&apos;s alarm failing to go off, but we made up time with some much more direct route finding back to the foot of the boulder choke.
A planned early start the next day was stalled slightly by Jono's alarm failing to go off, but we made up time with some much more direct route finding back to the foot of the boulder choke.
Becka & Ellie started surveying the connection, whilst I climbed back onto the large boulder and set about bolting a route up for them to follow.
I took my time with this, knowing I would be shortly marked on my work by Becka, arriving on the deck at the same time as Ellie came round the corner armed with the nail varnish.
<p>
@ -1639,8 +1482,8 @@ Upon turning this corner, we were immediately hit with the strongest draught I h
This spat us out on a ledge overlooking a hole which left me totally lost for words; a pitch plunging away below, and an aven towering above.
Much whooping and revelling in the echos followed, before taking some photos and surveying as far as we could reach (very little!).
<p>
Underequipped and running out of time, we returned downslope, following the ramp back past the junction we&apos;d entered from, for some very slippery surveying on the thick mud.
Reaching the bottom, I spotted what looked like freshly gardened rocks, and Becka then noticed the climb up on the right, which was the QMA we&apos;d left immediately before entering the boulder choke that morning! This resulted in a very satisfying loop closure to finish the day, at which point I deployed the tactical miniature cave whisky, which I&apos;d been saving in my oversuit for exactly such a moment.
Underequipped and running out of time, we returned downslope, following the ramp back past the junction we'd entered from, for some very slippery surveying on the thick mud.
Reaching the bottom, I spotted what looked like freshly gardened rocks, and Becka then noticed the climb up on the right, which was the QMA we'd left immediately before entering the boulder choke that morning! This resulted in a very satisfying loop closure to finish the day, at which point I deployed the tactical miniature cave whisky, which I'd been saving in my oversuit for exactly such a moment.
<p>
Returning to camp in good spirits, we passed the evening with many noodles and the remainder of the hot chocolate, setting an alarm for 6:30 for the trip out.
In the morning, Becka & Jono raced ahead, whilst Chris, Ellie & I plodded up, arriving at the surface around 17:00, just in time to get stuck in a thunder storm at top camp.
@ -1667,15 +1510,15 @@ I am a very sad man with too much time on his hands...
<div class="triptitle">homecoming - Welsh Engineering</div>
I was sold a nice easy surveying trip with a short pootle down a stream way. little did I know how wrong we were. we packed a single drill battery some short ropes and a few hangers just in case a few short drops were encountered. Once underground I was given the guided tour of what was known as the below Radagast series.
<p>
James and I surveyed what we thought was the final pitch while Aidan added a deviation. I complained greatly while surveying much to Aidan&apos;s entertainment who had bolted it. Once in the stream way bolting kit was packed up as we prepared for an easy surveying waltz down a stream way.
James and I surveyed what we thought was the final pitch while Aidan added a deviation. I complained greatly while surveying much to Aidan's entertainment who had bolted it. Once in the stream way bolting kit was packed up as we prepared for an easy surveying waltz down a stream way.
<p>
Aidan found another pitch where I asked if I could bolt. Of I went expecting a short pitch nice and easy. I got to a re-belay and started yelling it keeps going as there was another hole below me little did we know how big it actually was. I got to the ledge and started to prepare to abseil into a rift bolted the pitch head and then went why am I doing this walked over to the edge of the ledge to set up a much nicer hang, very scary.
I shouted at James and Aidan that its huge and keeps going and we don&apos;t have enough rope. Neither quite realised how big. I kept asking if Aidan wanted a look and he seemed uninterested until I pestered him enough where he promptly looked over the edge where he told us that we didn&apos;t realise how cool our find was as we had found a 80m hypo-genic tube. Our 30m rope got barely a 1/3 of the way down.
I shouted at James and Aidan that its huge and keeps going and we don't have enough rope. Neither quite realised how big. I kept asking if Aidan wanted a look and he seemed uninterested until I pestered him enough where he promptly looked over the edge where he told us that we didn't realise how cool our find was as we had found a 80m hypo-genic tube. Our 30m rope got barely a 1/3 of the way down.
<p>
I was sent out of the cave to tell people of our find and collect food, water bolts, batteries and rope. With eguipment acquired I ran back to homecoming to see the others exiting. Bags were packed flapjack was eaten, cooling down was required and once everything was ready to go I had to try and get a call out. After much hair pulling and phoning round I got a call-out so we were good to go. James had decided he wanted to go back to base which was probably a sensible decision so me and Aidan pushed on.
<p>
Aidan added an extra bolt to the top of the eye of Sauron where he handed me all the heavy bolting kit in case he needed to prussik out. Our 40m rope which was now down the pitch was still very short so a 30m rope was taken down by Aidan. Much bullying was required to get Aidan to go down the pitch as he was being a wus his words not mine he thanked me alter so its all good. Once the rope was free it was my turn where I was equally terrified but couldn&apos;t back down after bullying Aidan down. Descending was relatively straightforward until the knot pass. Doing a knot pass 40m below a pitch head and 20m above the floor makes a simple manoeuvrer terrifying. At the bottom of the pitch Aidan asked me to swing over a boulder where I was like, what do you mean, as I&apos;m hanging in free space. I descended onto solid floor which was a relief where we clambered onto the boulder to make another pitch down into another big chamber with a false floor.
Aidan added an extra bolt to the top of the eye of Sauron where he handed me all the heavy bolting kit in case he needed to prussik out. Our 40m rope which was now down the pitch was still very short so a 30m rope was taken down by Aidan. Much bullying was required to get Aidan to go down the pitch as he was being a wus his words not mine he thanked me alter so its all good. Once the rope was free it was my turn where I was equally terrified but couldn't back down after bullying Aidan down. Descending was relatively straightforward until the knot pass. Doing a knot pass 40m below a pitch head and 20m above the floor makes a simple manoeuvrer terrifying. At the bottom of the pitch Aidan asked me to swing over a boulder where I was like, what do you mean, as I'm hanging in free space. I descended onto solid floor which was a relief where we clambered onto the boulder to make another pitch down into another big chamber with a false floor.
<p>
The new pitch head was bolted with a combination of me and Aidan resulting in lightning bolting. This is where we decided to call the series Welsh Engineering due to all the people bar James, sorry James, were from a Welsh university. At the next pitch another deep hole opens out into nothing where we has high hopes of going deeper than the rest of the cave which was not to be. midway down the next pitch as I was looking for a re-belay. I spied a bolt in front of my face to much confusion and annoyance. I quickly realised I had been here before as I was at the bolt traverse I had pushed with Dickon 2 days before. I proceeded to have a 5 minute tantrum that our lead did a big loop collected myself and dropped to the bottom of the pitch to say I was at the bottom.
<p>
@ -1688,13 +1531,13 @@ This bottom bit was bolted badly due to my frustration although it is still safe
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-29d">2024-07-29</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Aidan K</u>,Colin F,James M,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Homecoming - The Eye of Sauron</div>
I was starting to lose psyche for my lead after the day of festering in Garlic and realising I might spend the entirety of my first expo in a small pointless, upper level of the system. The believed order of the day was mostly a surveying trip so we didn&apos;t bring many bolts or much rope.
I was starting to lose psyche for my lead after the day of festering in Garlic and realising I might spend the entirety of my first expo in a small pointless, upper level of the system. The believed order of the day was mostly a surveying trip so we didn't bring many bolts or much rope.
<p>
At the bottom of the streamway and along about 10m we found a small sledge with a 10m pitch down to another ledge and a seemingly bottomless space below. Colin bolted the way down while James and I surveyed. We joined Colin on a ledge with a prow of rock sticking out into a seemingly bottomless hole. My torch&apos;s light on boost mode couldn&apos;t make out the bottom! I was incredibly psyched about this find - we were in a massive vertical hypogenic phreatic tube!! This could surely only mean there was a massive lead waiting for us down at the bottom!
At the bottom of the streamway and along about 10m we found a small sledge with a 10m pitch down to another ledge and a seemingly bottomless space below. Colin bolted the way down while James and I surveyed. We joined Colin on a ledge with a prow of rock sticking out into a seemingly bottomless hole. My torch's light on boost mode couldn't make out the bottom! I was incredibly psyched about this find - we were in a massive vertical hypogenic phreatic tube!! This could surely only mean there was a massive lead waiting for us down at the bottom!
<p>
Unfortunately, when we lowered the rest of our 40m rope down from the pitchead we could see the end dangling in space, looking not even halfway down! It was very very scary looking down such a void from such a small prow of rock!
<p>
We decided that we certainly needed more drill battery, bolts, and rope to push this and that would require us leaving the cave. That and James wanted a lift down the hill that evening, which we&apos;d already arranged. Colin set off first on the way out, with the goal of heading straight to GC to get the needed resources while James and I followed him out. We left all the bolts, rope and kit at the bottomless hole so speed our ascent out, but not before James and I tried to survey it - but we were thwarted by endless 'Laser Reading Failed' error messages when we fired down the hole.
We decided that we certainly needed more drill battery, bolts, and rope to push this and that would require us leaving the cave. That and James wanted a lift down the hill that evening, which we'd already arranged. Colin set off first on the way out, with the goal of heading straight to GC to get the needed resources while James and I followed him out. We left all the bolts, rope and kit at the bottomless hole so speed our ascent out, but not before James and I tried to survey it - but we were thwarted by endless 'Laser Reading Failed' error messages when we fired down the hole.
<p>
James and I made our way out and within a few minutes of James surfacing, Colin had arrived with more kit and some more food!! I started packing the rope bags and bolts while James dekitted and Colin rekitted up. We check James knew what he was doing before we parted ways and he started to walk across the plateau and Colin and I descended back down. When we got back to what we would later name The Eye of Sauron, we re rigged the traverse into the pitchhead using the 11m rope, I placed a second bolt for the pitchhead (being quite nervous of the drop by me all the while) we rigged it and again hand over hand lowered the rope down to see how far it got. 38m of hanging rope and still no end in sight. I rechecked the rigging, armed with a 30m rope in a tacklebag, and after a lot of whimpering/complaining and some bullying from Colin I descended down. It should be noted I had no bolting kit on me because I knew for a certainty I couldn't reach a wall tom place a rebelay and I didn't want the extra weight on me if for whatever reason I had to changeover and head back up.
<p>
@ -1717,19 +1560,19 @@ What. A. Day.
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-30a">2024-07-30</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Adam</u>,Colin,Fiona,Aidan,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Homecoming - Homecoming Round Trip</div>
Colin and Aidan arrived in Garlic camp at around midnight, exhausted from their own day of caving prior. Upon all of us waking Fiona and I solidified our plans for the day, deciding to help the pair survey the rest of their new entrance series down into Homecoming. It&apos;d get us into the swing of surveying again after a long break and it would also be a good introduction to the Homecoming cave, which I hadn&apos;t been in for a year and Fiona hadn&apos;t been in before.
Colin and Aidan arrived in Garlic camp at around midnight, exhausted from their own day of caving prior. Upon all of us waking Fiona and I solidified our plans for the day, deciding to help the pair survey the rest of their new entrance series down into Homecoming. It'd get us into the swing of surveying again after a long break and it would also be a good introduction to the Homecoming cave, which I hadn't been in for a year and Fiona hadn't been in before.
<p>
In packing my stuff, I discovered the dark chocolate caving snack in the barrels and by god after a taste I knew it would be one of my go-to snacks this expo, on the side of gorp.
<p>
We walked down to Homecoming, Fiona and I this time not taking our walking poles with us, and started our descent. The coolness of the cave, even at the entrance, was a great change from the stifling heat of the surface, especially in all of our caving gear.
<p>
I went through the cave system following the others, so did not take as much notice of the names of the pitches as I should have done, which would have made future descriptions of the cave far easier when trying to figure out routes. I believe the route we took in was called the Welsh Engineering Route. In any case, after the first few entrance pitches, we deviated from the main route by taking the a white rope instead of a green rope (upon checking the description now, a few days later, this pitch appears to be Radagast). Instead of going straight down, we followed a rebelay into a traverse into a small phreatic chamber, where we waited for the rest of our group. Here, I put my buff fully on, covering my head as well as my neck, anticipating the further cold. From here, we found a junction where we went right. We came across another downhill junction where we took the left. At the end of this I believe there was a very downhill pitch head with a short traverse section and a deviation rigged off a natural very early on. We popped down and immediately went down a small dusty crawl, taking the next left. A traverse bolt on the left of the wall and a Y-hang on the right, we came into the pitch head for Saruman (with all the pitch head names aside from Eye of Sauron, I&apos;m just taking from the description now). A few more pitches followed this one, which I can&apos;t recall too clearly, but at some point there was an upstream pool where Aidan advised us to dip our descenders into to cool them down. We all did so.
I went through the cave system following the others, so did not take as much notice of the names of the pitches as I should have done, which would have made future descriptions of the cave far easier when trying to figure out routes. I believe the route we took in was called the Welsh Engineering Route. In any case, after the first few entrance pitches, we deviated from the main route by taking the a white rope instead of a green rope (upon checking the description now, a few days later, this pitch appears to be Radagast). Instead of going straight down, we followed a rebelay into a traverse into a small phreatic chamber, where we waited for the rest of our group. Here, I put my buff fully on, covering my head as well as my neck, anticipating the further cold. From here, we found a junction where we went right. We came across another downhill junction where we took the left. At the end of this I believe there was a very downhill pitch head with a short traverse section and a deviation rigged off a natural very early on. We popped down and immediately went down a small dusty crawl, taking the next left. A traverse bolt on the left of the wall and a Y-hang on the right, we came into the pitch head for Saruman (with all the pitch head names aside from Eye of Sauron, I'm just taking from the description now). A few more pitches followed this one, which I can't recall too clearly, but at some point there was an upstream pool where Aidan advised us to dip our descenders into to cool them down. We all did so.
<p>
After a traverse to another pitch, we came to the Eye of Sauron. In hindsight, it feels a lot like Mount Doom. There is a traverse and then a rope leading straight from one side of the wall to the pitch Y-hang. This rope hangs over a small walkway, the cave itself almost leading you to the great drop below. I should have brought my One Ring prop so I could re-enact one of the many endings of Return of the King! Alas, I didn&apos;t. So we went down, having little trouble with the knot pass most of the way down the rope. Descending to the very bottom of the Eye of Sauron isn&apos;t the way to go, as there&apos;s a big climb following. The goal would be to descend to the top of the climb and use the rope to pull yourself over, as the rope is bolted there too.
After a traverse to another pitch, we came to the Eye of Sauron. In hindsight, it feels a lot like Mount Doom. There is a traverse and then a rope leading straight from one side of the wall to the pitch Y-hang. This rope hangs over a small walkway, the cave itself almost leading you to the great drop below. I should have brought my One Ring prop so I could re-enact one of the many endings of Return of the King! Alas, I didn't. So we went down, having little trouble with the knot pass most of the way down the rope. Descending to the very bottom of the Eye of Sauron isn't the way to go, as there's a big climb following. The goal would be to descend to the top of the climb and use the rope to pull yourself over, as the rope is bolted there too.
<p>
This is where we started our surveying. Luckily, there was a nice platform where I could sit and put my bag as I put my coat and balaclava on, as well as have some of that amazing dark chocolate. Definitely buying some for myself! I acted as the instrument for the surveying, with Fiona acting as book, Aidan as dog. Colin forged on ahead for some bolting work, to meet us at the bottom.
<p>
The surveying was cold work, but all straightforward. Sometimes the vertical readings didn&apos;t function at all, the SAP refusing to work. So we just put them as question marks. In addition, the SAP had a scrolling option that worked by tilting. You could tilt either way, but it would only scroll one way. A bit annoying, Every now and then I found myself in settings, at which point I just had to turn the thing off and on again. We got to a false floor, so on surveying we always were clipped in to a traverse line. At the end of this section, I tried getting a vertical distance down the pitch but the SAP wouldn&apos;t have it! So we called it there and just went straight down.
The surveying was cold work, but all straightforward. Sometimes the vertical readings didn't function at all, the SAP refusing to work. So we just put them as question marks. In addition, the SAP had a scrolling option that worked by tilting. You could tilt either way, but it would only scroll one way. A bit annoying, Every now and then I found myself in settings, at which point I just had to turn the thing off and on again. We got to a false floor, so on surveying we always were clipped in to a traverse line. At the end of this section, I tried getting a vertical distance down the pitch but the SAP wouldn't have it! So we called it there and just went straight down.
<p>
The wall was a bit muddy and had a few rebelays. In addition, there was a rope protector attached as otherwise the rope would be sliced on a particularly sharp section of rock. We got down to a large rock where Colin was waiting. It was a large chamber with a few leads and a nice streamway ahead. We named the rock Urinal Rock. Not the nicest name, but nature called.
<p>
@ -1744,9 +1587,9 @@ We headed back up, eventually getting to a rebelay named Rivendell. This had a g
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-31a">2024-07-31</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Sarah</u>,Nat,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Plateau - Prospecting north of Tunnocks</div>
After scrounging together prospecting gear from Stone Bridge, Nat and I set off north of the Tunnock&apos;s col searching for new entrances. Some bunde bashing to a first rocky valley yielded some nice looking holes, but all pinched out after less than 5m. Wandering further along, we found p2013-cucc-pit. Finding no info on this entrance on the website, we assumed it hadn&apos;t been dropped yet. Nat rigged a rope on with a sling and 2 hexes, and I abseiled down (approx 8m), past a choked boulder, to the bottom. Unfortunately, it choked with rocks and ice at the bottom.
After scrounging together prospecting gear from Stone Bridge, Nat and I set off north of the Tunnock's col searching for new entrances. Some bunde bashing to a first rocky valley yielded some nice looking holes, but all pinched out after less than 5m. Wandering further along, we found p2013-cucc-pit. Finding no info on this entrance on the website, we assumed it hadn't been dropped yet. Nat rigged a rope on with a sling and 2 hexes, and I abseiled down (approx 8m), past a choked boulder, to the bottom. Unfortunately, it choked with rocks and ice at the bottom.
Further along, Nat spotted another hole (2024-ND-01) - I poked my head in, to be hit in the face with a strong draught. Dropping rocks down gave 4-5 seconds of rattle. Nat began gardening the rocks and boulders suspended above the entrance. I came to help, but ended up dropping a boulder into the entrance, blocking it. We then spent the next 2 hours trying to unblock it, with the hammer, and some slings and my pulley. But to no avail. We eventually admitted defeat and decided someone would need to return with a crow bar and lump hammer.
We began heading back to Stone Bridge, via the Tunnock&apos;s col, feeling hot and grumpy. Part of the plateau disintegrated on me and I twisted my ankle. We slowly continued, and found another good hole (big hole in side of cliff, with horizontal bedding planes - 2024-ND-02), but it was too late in the day and we were too dehydrated to drop. 10m further north, we found another hole (2024-ND-03) and made a note. Made it back to SB, dehydrated, took some vitamin I, and headed down the hill.
We began heading back to Stone Bridge, via the Tunnock's col, feeling hot and grumpy. Part of the plateau disintegrated on me and I twisted my ankle. We slowly continued, and found another good hole (big hole in side of cliff, with horizontal bedding planes - 2024-ND-02), but it was too late in the day and we were too dehydrated to drop. 10m further north, we found another hole (2024-ND-03) and made a note. Made it back to SB, dehydrated, took some vitamin I, and headed down the hill.
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@ -1755,11 +1598,11 @@ We began heading back to Stone Bridge, via the Tunnock&apos;s col, feeling hot a
<div class="tripdate" id="2024-07-31b">2024-07-31</div>
<div class="trippeople"><u>Adam</u>,Fiona,</div>
<div class="triptitle">Homecoming - Bolting the Brandywine</div>
We left Garlic camp at around 9-10am-ish. Time can blur on these expeditions. I messaged Signal to give our plans for the day. These were to check Homecoming for any drill bits. If we couldn’t find any, we would prospect. If we could, we would go down Homecoming to bolt and rig the rift we’d taken a small look at the day before. After putting these plans into the signal chat, I received a very welcome message from Harry saying that he had drill bits outside of Homecoming that we could use. After the short walk to the cave entrance from Garlic, Fiona and I gathered our supplies and I set a callout at Basecamp for 10pm with Colin. Upon packing the rope into my tackle sack, Fiona made some concerns regarding how long it was and how much we&apos;d be able to properly explore with it. I too was a bit worried, but given what we had available, it was the best option for the time. We entered the cave at approximately 11:30, going down the Welsh Engineering route, as Colin and Aidan had shown us.
We left Garlic camp at around 9-10am-ish. Time can blur on these expeditions. I messaged Signal to give our plans for the day. These were to check Homecoming for any drill bits. If we couldn’t find any, we would prospect. If we could, we would go down Homecoming to bolt and rig the rift we’d taken a small look at the day before. After putting these plans into the signal chat, I received a very welcome message from Harry saying that he had drill bits outside of Homecoming that we could use. After the short walk to the cave entrance from Garlic, Fiona and I gathered our supplies and I set a callout at Basecamp for 10pm with Colin. Upon packing the rope into my tackle sack, Fiona made some concerns regarding how long it was and how much we'd be able to properly explore with it. I too was a bit worried, but given what we had available, it was the best option for the time. We entered the cave at approximately 11:30, going down the Welsh Engineering route, as Colin and Aidan had shown us.
<p>
On going down the Eye of Sauron, I told Fiona to wait and shine her headtorch down the great pitch after a minute of descent, at which point I leaned over the hole, attached to the traverse line of course, and took a picture with my own light off. All the while very worried I&apos;d drop my phone. Fortunately this did not happen and we got a really good picture out of it, though I&apos;m disappointed at the actual camera quality, but what can you do?
On going down the Eye of Sauron, I told Fiona to wait and shine her headtorch down the great pitch after a minute of descent, at which point I leaned over the hole, attached to the traverse line of course, and took a picture with my own light off. All the while very worried I'd drop my phone. Fortunately this did not happen and we got a really good picture out of it, though I'm disappointed at the actual camera quality, but what can you do?
<p>
We arrived at Urinal Rock at around 1:30pm and we looked into the rift that we had seen the day before. I remembered on the journey down that the rebelay onto the rock had some coiled up rope at the end and so instead of starting our rigging at the rock, we simply extended the pitch down to the rift. We used the hammer on various sections of rock on our way down, but neither of us liked the sound of them. Eventually, I got to a small platform in the rift. I walked to the edge of the platform and tried the hammer on two opposing rock walls. Success! The rock sounded good! I got to work drilling the bolts and setting up a Y-hang. I made some small mistakes during this, such as not flattening the rock properly for the anchor and bolting at a slight angle. Simple and really annoying stuff. It ate much of our time as I used the sharper end of the hammer to correct my mistakes. After I rigged these, I descended from them to a further platform down below, wanting to be the very first to know if my Y-hang was insufficient. Fiona then followed me down and took the bolting gear to set up the traverse along the rift. At the first traverse bolt, the rope had ran out and we set to work using the short rope we&apos;d brought down with us. As Fiona bolted, I ascended to Urinal Rock to grab some more gear. As I did so, I noticed a glaring problem: the rope rubbed. The thought of someone being on this rope I&apos;d rigged and it snapping would haunt my dreams, so I knew a deviation was needed. We didn&apos;t have the gear for a deviation at this time, but I still tried to find a suitable natural. There was a sizeable flake that I liked the look of, but I wasn&apos;t sure. I tried climbing up to it to get a closer look and pulled on it.
We arrived at Urinal Rock at around 1:30pm and we looked into the rift that we had seen the day before. I remembered on the journey down that the rebelay onto the rock had some coiled up rope at the end and so instead of starting our rigging at the rock, we simply extended the pitch down to the rift. We used the hammer on various sections of rock on our way down, but neither of us liked the sound of them. Eventually, I got to a small platform in the rift. I walked to the edge of the platform and tried the hammer on two opposing rock walls. Success! The rock sounded good! I got to work drilling the bolts and setting up a Y-hang. I made some small mistakes during this, such as not flattening the rock properly for the anchor and bolting at a slight angle. Simple and really annoying stuff. It ate much of our time as I used the sharper end of the hammer to correct my mistakes. After I rigged these, I descended from them to a further platform down below, wanting to be the very first to know if my Y-hang was insufficient. Fiona then followed me down and took the bolting gear to set up the traverse along the rift. At the first traverse bolt, the rope had ran out and we set to work using the short rope we'd brought down with us. As Fiona bolted, I ascended to Urinal Rock to grab some more gear. As I did so, I noticed a glaring problem: the rope rubbed. The thought of someone being on this rope I'd rigged and it snapping would haunt my dreams, so I knew a deviation was needed. We didn't have the gear for a deviation at this time, but I still tried to find a suitable natural. There was a sizeable flake that I liked the look of, but I wasn't sure. I tried climbing up to it to get a closer look and pulled on it.
<p>
The damned thing came off in my hands. About twice the size of my head, heavy and sharp. I sat back in the rift for a few seconds just in disbelief and then told Fiona to stand well back and that I was going to drop the flake. After she stood well out of harms way, I dropped it down the rift and it smashed into pieces into the streamway. We'd have to find something else for the deviation.
<p>