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[svn r5797] All this bloody mess now validates as XHTML 1.0 Strict. What's more, some of the obviously out of date bits have been updated, or at least notes written to warn people that the information is out of date. I couldn't be arsed to do the surveying guide as well. I've just spent about eight hours doing this, I need food!

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@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
<html lang="en">
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Rigging in Austria - Introduction</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>CUCC Expedition Rigging Handbook: Introduction</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
</head>
<body>
<center><h2>Rigging in Austria<br>
Introduction</h2></center>
<h2 style="text-align: center">CUCC Expo Rigging Handbook</h2>
<h1>Introduction</h1>
<h3>Prerequisites:</h3>
@@ -17,13 +19,13 @@ reasonable efficiency. Choice of ropes is not covered, as by the time you are
on the expedition it will be too late ! Neither is this guide concerned with
personal SRT equipment except where the demands of caving in Austria require
gear in addition to that you would normally use on a typical Yorkshire
weekend.
weekend.</p>
<p>Self-rescue may also be important in Austria - this should be covered in
the rescue guide (but isn't - yet). It is recommended that you should
practice all these techniques somewhere safe and warm - preferably in the UK
before departure rather than up a tree behind the potato hut in a
thunderstorm !
thunderstorm!</p>
<h3>Differences from Yorkshire.</h3>
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ to be, so the ropes you have with you may need to be cut or knotted. Party
size is usually small - everyone needs to be able to make a contribution to
safe rigging. The first one down may be rigging a new rope to replace a
damaged one, or one of less than ideal length. The second may have to remove
the old rope on his descent.
the old rope on his descent.</p>
<p>Conversely, the caves are deeper, longer and colder than Yorkshire, so
parties need to move safely and efficiently to avoid exhaustion and exposure.
@@ -46,14 +48,14 @@ is often critical. Ropes remain in place over several trips, and rock may be
very sharp - every party must be alert to the danger of abrasion and be
prepared to rerig if necessary. Finally, rigging points placed on exploration
may need to be used on expeditions for years to come, so maintenance of bolts
on the final derigging trips is important.
on the final derigging trips is important.</p>
<h3>A New Pitch !</h3>
<p>So your cave goes, and you have reached a large black space. Whether your
reaction is joy or terror, there are a few things to consider before
leaping, lemming-like, into the void on a handy piece of string, or running
back to top camp to announce that the cave is "bottomless".
back to top camp to announce that the cave is "bottomless".</p>
<p>How deep is the pitch ? Where would be the ideal line of descent, avoiding
rub points, loose rock, mud and/or water ? Is there an obvious traverse
@@ -63,15 +65,15 @@ pitch as well as down it - there may be accessible passage still to
explore and always a chance that the pitch can be climbed or bypassed
entirely. Look up too: if there is an aven it may give a clue as to where
flood inlets might appear, or there may be loose rock or ice formations
up there to be considered.
up there to be considered.</p>
<p>The traditional method of judging the depth of a pitch is to lob a rock
down. <spani lang="fr">Casteret</span> always used to wrap his rock in a copy
down. <span lang="fr">Casteret</span> always used to wrap his rock in a copy
of "<i lang="fr">Le Monde</i>" and set it alight before casting it into the
void. Before chucking <b>anything</b> down a pitch, consider whether there
could be another party down there, perhaps having come by an entirely
different route. In <spani lang="de">Kaninchenh&ouml;hle</span> in
particular, this is a very real possibility.
different route. In <span lang="de">Kaninchenh&ouml;hle</span> in
particular, this is a very real possibility.</p>
<p>A traverse/security line is often useful to approach the edge of a new
pitch. This may or may not become a permanent part of the rigging, but
@@ -79,12 +81,12 @@ until the safety of the pitch head has been assessed, it is better to be
safe than sorry. Such a rope will often enable you to reach a better
viewpoint (or rock-chucking point :-) to assess the pitch, and certainly
confers a greater degree of confidence when scrambling about looking for
potential rig points.
potential rig points.</p>
<p>When throwing your rock, only the time to the first bounce is really
relevant, unless it continues to rattle on for <b>very much</b> longer. If
you can drop it in a "free hang" then this will give you a good idea of the
minimum length of rope needed before a rebelay is required.
minimum length of rope needed before a rebelay is required.</p>
<h3>Rigging it</h3>
@@ -94,7 +96,7 @@ for the first person to find the pitch ends blind. On the other hand, you
can bodge up a rig to check that it goes, then fail to rig properly before
it takes a lot of traffic. The first error is frustrating and limits your
finding of new stuff. The second error can be terminal at worst and at best
can waste a lot more time than would have been needed to rig properly.
can waste a lot more time than would have been needed to rig properly.</p>
<p>If a pitch is roomy, draughts strongly or is in an immensely promising
location, it is probably worth taking the time to rig it properly from the
@@ -102,13 +104,13 @@ start. If the pitch is small, has no draught or is likely to drop back into a
known part of the cave, it is probably better to send someone down before
investing too much effort. You can make it safe pretty quickly with rope
protectors and perhaps deviations off naturals, without taking the time to
place bolts which you will need for a more permanent rig.
place bolts which you will need for a more permanent rig.</p>
<p>Experience in the UK should have given you a good feel for when a pitch
is well-rigged. It won't take too long in Austria to get a feel for how
it can go wrong. If you find a pitch badly rigged by someone else, don't
assume it must be OK because they survived. If you can improve the rig,
do so; if not, consider carefully whether you should go down at all.
do so; if not, consider carefully whether you should go down at all.</p>
<p>A well-rigged pitch should not be overly gymnastic, nor, ideally, should
it have either very long or very short sections, which result in a lot of
@@ -116,33 +118,31 @@ waiting around for the other person(s) in a group. Loops at rebelays should
not disappear when the rope is unloaded, and should be long enough to allow
the removal of any type of descender. They do not need to be long enough to
stand in - especially if the pitch above is short. Overmuch slack at a
rebelay will result in a high fall-factor if the belay fails.
rebelay will result in a high fall-factor if the belay fails.</p>
<hr>
<hr />
<!-- LINKS -->
<img src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
<a href="../index.htm">Expedition Handbook</a> - Intro<br>
<img src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
<a href="../look4.htm">Prospecting guide</a><br>
<img src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
<a href="../survey/index.htm">Surveying guide</a><br>
<img src="../../../icons/lists/2.png">
<a href="../findit.htm">Taking bearings</a> to locate caves<br>
<img src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
<a href="../rescue.htm">Rescue guide</a><br>
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<a href="../photo.htm">Photography guide</a><br>
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<a href="../../infodx.htm">Index to info/topics pages</a><br>
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<ul id="links">
<li><a href="../index.htm">Expedition Handbook</a> &ndash; Contents
<ul>
<li><a href="../look4.htm">Prospecting guide</a></li>
<li><a href="../survey/index.htm">Surveying guide</a></li>
<li><a href="../rescue.htm">Rescue guide</a></li>
<li><a href="../photo.htm">Photography guide</a></li>
<li><a href="index.htm">Rigging guide</a> &ndash; Contents
<ul>
<li>Introduction</li>
<li><a href="boltin.htm">Bolt belays</a> - placing and using</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="../../infodx.htm">Index to info/topics pages</a></li>
<li><a href="../../indxal.htm">Full Index to area 1623</a>
<ul>
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