Carried up our final load to TC, noticed that the tent had lots of big puddles. Perhaps optimistically, I assumed it had come into the -tent whilst we erected it in the hail storm, so I bailed out the water + we set off for 76, armed with a GPS. We got the [illegible] the -GPS point and wandered around and found 97 which still had paint marking it. This gave us an idea of where 76 was which we then found. -About 50m from 76, towards the ridge, was a very very good potential bivvy site – a big arched entrance maybe 15m across and 1.5m -high with a snow patchand a skylight. Probably room for ~6 people without too much rock moving + more people with more work, quite -sheltered as well as it opens out into a small sheltered valley (with room for a small tent). We walked back to TC laying cairns as we -went.
+tent whilst we erected it in the hail storm, so I bailed out the water + we set off for 76, armed with a GPS. We got to near the GPS point +and wandered around and found 97 which still had paint marking it. This gave us an idea of where 76 was which we then found. About 50m +from 76, towards the ridge, was a very very good potential bivvy site – a big arched entrance maybe 15m across and 1.5m high with a +snow patchand a skylight. Probably room for ~6 people without too much rock moving + more people with more work, quite sheltered as well +as it opens out into a small sheltered valley (with room for a small tent). We walked back to TC laying cairns as we went.We decided that today we would continue down the 70s route and see how far we could get with the rope + hangers we had. I wanted to play with the drill, so set off down to the current end of the rigging (the next ledge on from the Test Tube passage) and put in a nice -Y-hang. Meanwhile Olly swung around on the snow plugs below to retrieve my spanner he had lost. The pitch was really nice – the best so -far, a lovely hang in a huge shaft, on down to the next ledge + some 1970s spits, one of which was used as part of the Y, a deviation +Y-hang. Meanwhile Olly swung around on the snow plugs below to retrieve my spanner he had lost. The pitch was really nice – the best +so far, a lovely hang in a huge shaft, on down to the next ledge + some 1970s spits, one of which was used as part of the Y, a deviation later and I was at the bottom of "Plugged Shaft" on a bouldery floor with a huge bit of scaffold bar longer than I am! The next pitch -wasn't far away, and as we weren't certain how solid the floor was we continued the rope round – this is where the 112m rope ended, so we -tied on the 85m and Olly bolted down "Saved Shaft" with, as is typical of this cave, a deviation. We now arrived at a HUGE boulder pile, -with at least one boulder bigger than a car! The way on was under these with the draft. The boulders actually looked quite wedged, but it -is probably worth trying to get over the top sometime (a) to see if it goes anywhere new and (b) in the hope that it is safer. Olly rigged -a traverse line through the boulders, as once on the other side you are in a rift with veg in the floor [that's what I think this -says] dropping away into "Keg Series" 30 odd metres below. Olly rigged down this after doing some gardening of rocks at the pitch -head, including one ~1m across... Olly got to the bottom of the first pitch and carried on down. I set off down this pitch, being really -careful of all the loose stuff still there, and reached the bottom just as Olly had reached the end of the rope below. The pitch was quite -drippy by the end, and perhaps needs rigging differently for times of rain. Anyway, with no rope, one hanger and no maillons left we -decided to survey out, pulling the rope up to the top of the pitch so we can garden more next time. We wanted to survey with a plumb leg, -but the pitch wasn't quite free hanging, so the plan was for Olly to go up, and swing across to where it would plumb from. This worked -well until Olly dislodged a small rock with his foot which fell 12m to me below. As I was looking up at the tape it did not bounce off my -helmet but hit me on the top of my nose / bottom of my forehead. It hurt lots and I screamed lots thinking I was properly broken. After a -bit I realised Olly was asking in quite a concerned way if I was OK, so I thought for a bit if I was, my nose hurt lots, but there was -only a very small bit of blood, and once I opened my eyes I realised that I could see alright, so I shouted back that I was OK, and cried -some more until the pain died away a bit. We did a bit of surveyeing. Then decided to give up until we had done more gardening and -rigging, and went back to teh base of Saved Shaft. We surveyed back till it connected at The Ledge and went home.
+wasn't far away, and as we weren't certain how solid the floor was we continued the rope round – this is where the 112m rope ended, +so we tied on the 85m and Olly bolted down "Saved Shaft" with, as is typical of this cave, a deviation. We now arrived at a HUGE boulder +pile, with at least one boulder bigger than a car! The way on was under these with the draft. The boulders actually looked quite wedged, +but it is probably worth trying to get over the top sometime (a) to see if it goes anywhere new and (b) in the hope that it is safer. Olly +rigged a traverse line through the boulders, as once on the other side you are in a rift with very little in the floor dropping away into +"Keg Series" 30 odd metres below. Olly rigged down this after doing some gardening of rocks at the pitch head, including one ~1m across... +Olly got to the bottom of the first pitch and carried on down. I set off down this pitch, being really careful of all the loose stuff +still there, and reached the bottom just as Olly had reached the end of the rope below. The pitch was quite drippy by the end, and perhaps +needs rigging differently for times of rain. Anyway, with no rope, one hanger and no maillons left we decided to survey out, pulling the +rope up to the top of the pitch so we can garden more next time. We wanted to survey with a plumb leg, but the pitch wasn't quite free +hanging, so the plan was for Olly to go up, and swing across to where it would plumb from. This worked well until Olly dislodged a small +rock with his foot which fell 12m to me below. As I was looking up at the tape it did not bounce off my helmet but hit me on the top of my +nose / bottom of my forehead. It hurt lots and I screamed lots thinking I was properly broken. After a bit I realised Olly was asking in +quite a concerned way if I was OK, so I thought for a bit if I was, my nose hurt lots, but there was only a very small bit of blood, and +once I opened my eyes I realised that I could see alright, so I shouted back that I was OK, and cried some more until the pain died away a +bit. We did a bit of surveyeing. Then decided to give up until we had done more gardening and rigging, and went back to teh base of Saved +Shaft. We surveyed back till it connected at The Ledge and went home.Thereafter we (read Dave) derigged out as far as God Loves a Drunk, where soup was consumed. The drill and a bag of rope wlaked out of the cave all on their own, whilst another bag of rope got tired at the bottom of Kiwi Suit. Team foot jammer levitated out whilst @@ -1070,19 +1069,15 @@ the next pitch head I foolishly remarked that it would be nice if it sumped roun loose).
The next pitch was actually nice, less loose + BIG, it was rigged with a deviation + a knot pass, but needs more/better deviation(s). -This took us down to another ledge 25m below, from here Olly rigged a 3rd pitch (with a deviation in) that after 25m reached a really big +This took us down to another ledge 25m below; from here Olly rigged a 3rd pitch (with a deviation in) that after 25m reached a really big ledge with (for the first time in a while) a solid rock floor. Olly went down a short, 5m pitch, whilst I commented on how big and therefore significant this passage/pitch series was. At the bottom Olly found a sump and I felt guilty for wanting one earlier...
-[Editor's note: Blanks were left in the above description to be filled in later, but it seems noone did so. The above numbers are -extracted from the survey data but it's not clear to me exactly where one pitch stops and the next starts – these are my best guesses. -—DL]
-I climbed down to check it really was a sump (it was, and not a very impressive one at that) whilst Olly looked at a small passage -going off the other way till it got small; I came out and looked there – after a short crawl (~5m) it met a small stream passage which I -followed for a short way till it felt small + committing – the passage does however continue. Meanwhile Olly had found a more promising -lead by climbing above the sump and following a tortuous vadose canyon downhill until it got bigger and became another pitch series; we -decided to leave this for next year and surveyed out to the top of Keg Series.
+going off the other way till it got small; I came out and looked there – after a short crawl (~5m) it met a small stream passage +which I followed for a short way till it felt small + committing – the passage does however continue. Meanwhile Olly had found a +more promising lead by climbing above the sump and following a tortuous vadose canyon downhill until it got bigger and became another +pitch series; we decided to leave this for next year and surveyed out to the top of Keg Series.On the middle big pitch I had a bad feeling about the rope rubbing so was prusiking fairly gently. Once I was ~1/2 way up I noticed the rope was caught round a flake above the deviation and was rubbing lots + lots over a fairly sharp edge. This made me scared, lots. I @@ -1142,7 +1137,8 @@ on.
Walked towards the high point approximately west of 76 and the bivvy. Just below (on the east side) of the high point we found a series of 3 entrances along a fault/joint; we called this 2004-05. They were 10m to a ledge, then seemed to go deeper, but we didn't have tackle -and I couldn't get the top to drop there. [I think that's what this says—DL]
+and I couldn't get the rocks to drop there. +2004-05: [sketch]