264 - Hiltiaplenty

The hiltiaplenty pitch can be traversed across, leading to Spanner or descended 40metres past one rebelay and one deviation. The cave in this area appears phreatic and relatively clean, however the lack of obvious source and the presence of a small amount of dirt suggest that the pitch remains dry. This drops down onto the ledge leading to Pubic Synthesis and is then followed by another 10m pitch to the Hiltiaplenty level.

Rigging guide

Spanner

A dozen or so bolts across the right hand wall leads to a phreatic passage on the opposite side of the pitch. This passage slopes gently upwards, before turning into a key hole shaped passage. This leads to a small phreatic tubes which can be squeezed into before probably becoming too tight.

Pubic Synthesis

From the ledge at the bottom of the first Hiltaplenty pitch, passage with floor of slightly damp mud inclines upwards roughly 5m where a obvious potential natural belay point sits at the base of the left hand wall. Continuing up the increasingly low passage, it shortly begins to turn left and a crawl which quickly becomes too small backs of on the left. Further up a muddy slope another short crawl doubles back, this time on the right. The main route forward becomes steeper and impassable immediately after this.

Hiltiaplenty

Opposite the bottom of the pitch, a drafting rift passage, leads to a step up a mud bank into a chamber with a boulder choke in the floor. There is a ?C small crawl to the left as the chamber is entered, and a ?X in the ceiling which may just be a solution pocket. To the right a passage leads to the Cornish fudge shop, named after the fine cracked mud floor. Over the boulder choke two passages go off. The left passage leads to a couple of avens ?X ?X, a little grotto and awkward passage, with a rift in the floor and a number of windows into a parallel passage. The right hand passage goes up an ascending rift up to a cross rift. At this junction there is a possible passage ?C going that would need climbing/bolting to. To the left the cross rift leads to a slope up ?B, whilst the right goes dead straight for 100m, where a small crawl straight on or a passage to the left both lead to two ends of a complicated multilevel chamber. Bearing right loops around down a mud slope/climb to the lower level of the chamber.

Back at the bottom of the hiltiaplenty pitch, turning right leads quickly to a large sloping chamber, with a large aven above ?X. Turning left in the chamber leads up a large passage, with a possible climb up at the end ?X. Turning right in the chamber leads down a very dubious approach to the below hiltiaplenty pitch, this is steep and full of big loose rocks and is not recomended. Straight across the chamber leads down a sandy passage, which can also be traversed over with a climb down a tube. At the bottom of this passage is a three meter drop to a perpendicular passage that can be avoided with a short narrow climb in the floor. The right leads to where the below hiltiaplenty pitch was rigged, the left leads immediatly to a pitch that can be traversed over where a short passage leads to a short pitch. The pitches drop to oposite ends of a narrow low passage which connects the bottoms of both pitches, halfway along this passage a ramp up a chamber leabs to a short climb that leads to the bottom of a breakdown filled shaft. The breakdown can be climbed past up a chimney and emerges in a clean washed aven with many fresh strike marks that appears to be directly below natural highs.

Below hiltiaplenty

Rigging guide
The pitch lands in a chamber. From the a chamber a passage leads up, passing a rift ?C on the right where some rocks would need moving to making progress. A climb up leads to a passage that splits, with both routes leading to a small chamber. The only way on that does not quickly become too tight or choked, is a climb up to, where some protection would be required ?C.
Back in the main chamber near where the rope lands a crawl up a mud floored passage slopes up ?B.
Descending the main chamber (which should be protected with the pitch rope), leads to where a opit in the floor can be descended, to a gnarly active stream way descending down ?C. From the lower part of the chamber a crawl to the left quickly chokes and a passage goes up. This has a rift going of to the left, which probably needs a little rigging ?B. At the top of the passage, there is a pitch down, which looks blind ?C and a passage continues over the pitch heading steeply upwards ?X.

Cornish fudge shop

The cracked mud floored passage starts low before opening up however it does not go, so the passage should not be entered.