Upon waking, the inevitable morning faff ensued, accompanied by the perpetual roar of the gas stove. Bags packed & plans made, we left camp just before 11:00 on the 30th. @@ -48,13 +49,18 @@ Upon waking, the inevitable morning faff ensued, accompanied by the perpetual ro 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.
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. +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. -We followed the ramp, reaching a slippery step over an intersecting rift, with a climb down marked as a QMB on the left, and the ramp still continuing in front of us with a QMA marked at the end. -The far side of a second, more precarious stepover brought the exciting sight of untrodden mud, at the foot of a large boulder choke with the draught still beckoning. +We followed the ramp, reaching a slippery step over an intersecting rift, with a climb down marked as a QMA on the left, and the ramp still continuing in front of us with a QMA marked at the top. +The far side of a second, more precarious step-over brought the exciting sight of untrodden mud, at the foot of a large boulder choke with the draught still beckoning. A careful shimmy to the edge and & bridge across put me in uncharted territory, and after ducking under an arch I was in much bigger passage, 2 huge blocks looming over me blocking the way on, with an enticing black void above. This presented an obvious barrier to further exploration, but after the echo coming back from a couple of shouts it was immediately clear we needed to investigate further. +I wriggled around under the choke for a while, finding a chimney narrow enough to bridge across, which I thrutched my way up, gaining the top of the first large block. +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. +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'd just seen, and insisting we must return with a drill & rope asap! +This meant somewhat reluctantly slogging off to Tartarus.