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309 lines
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HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8" />
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
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<title>1623/204 -- No Pain No Gain and the Pleasuredome</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<table id="cavepage">
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<tr><th id="kat_no">204</th><th id="name">Steinbrückenhöhle</th><th id="status">5/S x</th></tr>
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</table>
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<h1>No Pain No Gain and the Pleasuredome</h1>
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<div>
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<b><a href="#survey">Survey</a></b> --
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<b><a href="204.html">204 index</a></b></div>
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<hr />
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<h3><a id="nopainnogain">No Pain No Gain</a></h3>
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<p><b>No Pain No Gain</b> is a low tubular crawl branching off <a
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href="midlevel.html#onetenbidet">110 Bidet</a> in the Mid-Level Series, which
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emerges to a mud-floored chamber. (Please try not to disturb the remaining flow
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patterns in the mud). A crawly mud floored passage leaves the chamber to the
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right. To the right near the end of the crawl is a bedding plane that continues
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uphill leading back to <a href="midlevel.html#onetenbidet">110 Bidet</a>,
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whilst to the left is a small stone floored pit. There is a 2m climb up from
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the top of the pit. This has a stalactite formation at the top on the right,
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and threads on the left
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where a sling may be attached to assist. The crawl then continues to a junction
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with two connecting passages to the left leading to <a
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href="#kingcarbide">'King Carbide</a> and two connecting passages to the right,
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which re-emerges on the right at a T junction slightly down the passage. To the
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left of this T junction, the passage enlarges
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slightly, and there soon is a chamber that is intersected by a tight rift with
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flowing water. Downstream is [<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-05"
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id="qC2000-204-05">C2000-204-05 C</a>]. Upstream a key hole passage slopes
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upwards, to a T-junction with a chamber to the right, and an short, almost
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flat-out crawl to the left. The chamber, which has an aven [<a
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href="qm.html#C2000-204-55" id="qC2000-204-55">C2000-204-55 X</a>], can be
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dropped into. A rift at the other end of the chamber leads to a waterfall which
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feeds the stream that runs through the chamber. Climbing up before the rift
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gives access to a crawl [<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-06"
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id="qC2000-204-06">C2000-204-06 C</a>]. The flat out crawl, to the left,
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emerges to a small angular chamber, at the top of which, to the right, is a
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hole [<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-07" id="qC2000-204-07">C2000-204-07 C</a>].
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To the left a low passage runs above a 4m drop [<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-08"
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id="qC2000-204-08">C2000-204-08 B</a>]. This then turns right and continues to
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a fork in the passage. To the left is <a
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href="#insignificantchamber">Insignificant Chamber</a>, and to the right is a
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smaller chamber with a blind hole in the floor, windows to Insignificant
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Chamber, and a bedding plane continuing up at 10°, which again connects
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into Insignificant Chamber.</p>
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<h3><a id="insignificantchamber">Insignificant Chamber</a></h3>
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<p><b>Insignificant Chamber</b>, so named because it is probably the most
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important junction in Steinbrückenhöhle, is a moderate sized chamber
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which can be entered at floor level from <a href="#nopainnogain">No Pain No
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Gain</a>.</p>
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<p><i>To the left it turns into a passage. There are a number a interconnecting
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holes on the right, which drop down into <a href="rhino.html#rhinorift2">Rhino
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Rift 2</a>. This passage gets smaller and reaches a junction: on the left is a
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walking size passage with a small pit in the floor that continues to a large
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pitch, <b><a id="allroads">All Roads</a></b>, which drops into <a
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href="#pleasuredome">Pleasuredome</a>. <!-- Martin - description? --> Straight
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on leads to <a href="#drillingdelight">Drilling Delight</a>, and to the right is
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a small passage that connects to the <a href="#bonsai">Bonsai Crawl</a>. Half
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way along this small passage there is a small pitch [<a
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href="qm.html#C2000-204-59" id="qC2000-204-59">C2000-204-59 C</a>].</i></p>
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<p>Straight on, upslope from where No Pain No Gain enters, is a bedding plane
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which splits left to <a href="#bonsai">Bonsai Crawl</a> and right to <a href="#dontstep">Don't Step</a>.</p>
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<p>To the right upon entering Insignificant Chamber one can climb up to a point
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above the small chamber in <a href="#nopainnogain">No Pain No Gain</a>.
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Continuing climbing up to the left leads to an aven [<a
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href="qm.html#C2001-204-2" id="qC2001-204-2">C2001-204-2 X</a>] and 5m of
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horizontal passage, leading to a wet aven [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-1"
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id="qC2001-204-1">C2001-204-1 X</a>] and a 2m climb down, to where the passage
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doubles back underneath itself, becoming to tight. From above the small
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chamber, a small crawl goes off to the right, and a phreatic tube emerges on a
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wall slightly further along. Going along the small crawl, a small passage goes
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of to the left [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-3" id="qC2001-204-3">C2001-204-3
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C</a>], before emerging in a small chamber. To the right is the phreatic tube
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seen part way up a wall in Insignificant Chamber. Straight on leads to a crawl
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at floor level [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-7" id="qC2001-204-7">C2001-204-7
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C</a>]. To the left, the passage turns left, with a crawl going to the left at
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floor level [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-4" id="qC2001-204-4">C2001-204-4
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B</a>], and a passage seen going off 3m up the wall [<a
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href="qm.html#C2001-204-5" id="qC2001-204-5">C2001-204-5 C</a>]. Around this
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corner a pitch is met, with a passage 4m up the wall [<a
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href="qm.html#C2001-204-6" id="qC2001-204-6">C2001-204-6 C</a>].</p>
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<p>This pitch, <b><a id="micturation">Micturition</a></b>, was descended
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into a small chamber at -5m with a small window looking out onto a large
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chamber. The pitch was then descended via a rebelay after a sloping wall to
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land in the north-east alcove of <a href="#pleasuredome">Pleasuredome</a>.</p>
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<h3><a id="drillingdelight">Drilling Delight</a></h3>
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<p>The first pitch of Drilling Delight is rigged with a back up in the downward
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sloping floor, with a Y hang from bolts on a vertical part of the ceiling over
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the pitch. This leads down to a ledge, which required a rebelay off a natural.
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At the bottom of the pitch, a crawl leads to the left [<a
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href="qm.html#C2001-204-62" id="qC2001-204-62">C2001-204-62 C</a>], a 1m climb
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up to the right immediately leads to the next pitch. Near the bottom of this
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pitch, a further small pitch continues downwards. <i>The pitch was descended
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using the rope from the previous pitch and a rebelay; it continued for a
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further 9m and ended in a blind pool or a sump, which was not investigated
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further.</i> A walking passage heads south-east for a short distance, and a
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squeeze can be gone through to the left, to a small chamber. Straight on a
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short climb leads to a rift with a too tight slot in the floor to an echoing
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pitch. To the right is another climb which may need a few bolts for protection.
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Further investigation through the squeeze revealed that the climb ended in
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another short ascending aven with a blind roof. This was not surveyed as the
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climb was not ascended coupled with the reluctance of other members of the team
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to pass the squeeze.</p>
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<h3>Bonsai Crawl</h3>
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<p><b><a id="bonsai">Bonsai Crawl</a></b> is a wide bedding plane. A tall and
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thin passage to the right goes to <a href="#flopsy">Flopsy the Bunny Rabbit's
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Lair</a>. The main passage continues upwards to a fork. On the left is a
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stooping-size passage, leading to <a href="swings.html">Swings and
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Roundabouts</a>. On the right is a walking-size passage with a boulder floor.
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There is a hole in the right wall that has a couple of small passages leading
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off [<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-13" id="qC2000-204-13">C2000-204-13 C</a>],
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[<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-14" id="qC2000-204-14">C2000-204-14 C</a>]. The
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passage then emerges into <a href="treeumphant.html#thecolonnade">The
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Colonnade</a>.</p>
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<h3><a id="dontstep">Don't Step</a></h3>
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[<a href="qm.html#C2003-204-83" id="qC2003-204-83">C2003-204-83 B</a>]
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[<a href="qm.html#C2003-204-84" id="qC2003-204-84">C2003-204-84 B</a>]
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[<a href="qm.html#C2003-204-85" id="qC2003-204-85">C2003-204-85 C</a>]
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<h3><a id="flopsy">Flopsy the Bunny Rabbit's Lair</a></h3>
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<p>The tall thin passage from <a href="#bonsai">Bonsai Crawl</a> leads to a
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chamber with a pitch [<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-52"
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id="qC2000-204-52">C2000-204-52 C</a>]. <i>To the right are two small passages
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leading to <a href="#dontstep">Don't Step</a>.</i> A
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passage leads off to the left and gets lower, passing some pretties on the
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floor, then opening out, to a pitch on the left [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-61"
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id="qC2001-204-61">C2001-204-61 B</a>], with an aven above [<a
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href="qm.html#C2001-204-60" id="qC2001-204-60">C2001-204-60 X</a>]. This pitch
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can be carefully traversed around without a safety line, the passage emerges at
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a cross junction at <a href="treeumphant.html#thecolonnade">The Colonnade</a>.</p>
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<h3><a id="kingcarbide">'King Carbide</a></h3>
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<p>In the Near End series near <a href="entrance.html#kidneybean">Kidney Bean</a>
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a small awkward chamber was found by moving a large boulder and almost crushing
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Simon Lee in the process. This revealed the head of an 18m pitch, which was
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rigged with a bolt and a sling around a natural. A narrow rifty pitch was
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descended with the aid of a deviation about half way down to arrive in a small
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chamber, <b>'King Carbide</b>, with multiple ways on. The most obvious way
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looked out on to a large chamber, <a href="#pleasuredome">Pleasuredome</a>. To
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the left whilst facing Pleasuredome, a crawl leads to a T junction. Here, the
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left side leads to a pitch into Pleasuredome. The right leads to another pitch,
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which presumably also leads to Pleasuredome. This pitch can be traversed
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around, to a continuing crawl to the right [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-52"
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id="qC2001-204-52">C2001-204-52 C</a>] and passage that joins to the righthand
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way out of 'King Carbide. This passage, <b><a id="scroat">Scroat</a></b>,
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enters a moderately sized chamber, with a rift descending into the floor on the
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left [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-50" id="qC2001-204-50">C2001-204-50 C</a>],
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which may provide water for the waterfall into Pleasuredome. Over the rift, to
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the left is a partially boulder filled passage [<a href="qm.html#C2001-204-51"
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id="qC2001-204-51">C2001-204-51 B</a>], while to the right over the rift, and
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around the rift to the right, two passages emerge in <a href="#nopainnogain">No
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Pain No Gain</a>.</p>
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<h3><a id="pleasuredome">Pleasuredome</a></h3>
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<p>The landing at the bottom of <b><a id="perpetual">Perpetual Motion</a></b>,
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the pitch from <a href="#kingcarbide">'King Carbide</a>, is on an unstable
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boulder ridge on the floor of a chamber, <b>Pleasuredome</b>, measuring about
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10m by 20m. On one side is what looks to be a 3m deep blind trench which has
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been observed to take a sizable stream in wet weather [<a
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href="qm.html#C2000-204-66" id="qC2000-204-66">C2000-204-66</a>] and on the
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other the chamber floor slopes away gradually, leading to the head of <a
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href="#phat">Brian's Phat Shaft</a>. On the right of the chamber (as one
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descends the slope) there is a short climb up a large boulder into another
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slightly larger chamber measuring about 25m by 12m with a fairly level boulder
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strewn floor. In the far left hand corner after a small climb up was a small
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passage with a false floor. After 10m crawling, a window was found which looked
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out on to the head of a 30m pitch which was
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descended using a deviation in the opposite wall at 3m from the head of the
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pitch. The pitch was mainly circular at the top, becoming more rifty as it was
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descended. The base of the pitch landed on a boulder floored chamber with two
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ways on. The route to the north was a narrow climbing rift passage leading to a
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choke with no way on and no leads. The route to the south and east is a shorter
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and wider passage with a dogleg to the left. In the left hand wall about 3m up
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a short climb is a small body size tube through which water could be heard. [<a
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href="qm.html#C2000-204-65" id="qC2000-204-65">C2000-204-65 B</a>] After
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derigging the pitch to the pitch-head the top of the pitch was descended after
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a short distance (4m) to a ledge which was then traversed round to the right to
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gain a saddle between the pitch previously descended and a large diameter pot.
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This was descended with difficulty due to the crap nature of the rock. The
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pitch enters part way down the first pitch of the <a
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href="elephant">White Elephant Series</a> after Millennium
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Dome. The pitch landed on a rubble floor next to a blind pit noted in the White
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Elephant description and is almost certainly the parallel shaft noted in the
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exploration of that series.</p>
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<h3><a id="phat">Brian's Phat Shaft</a></h3>
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<p>At the bottom of the slope of the first chamber of Pleasure Dome, one can duck
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under a drippy rock flake, leading to a mobile boulder slope. This heads
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steeply down to the top of a 100m shaft. The pitch was rigged with a bolt
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backup at the top of the slope and a Y-Hang at the pitch-head. By a back and
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foot traverse to the right a small passage can be accessed, <b>Obese</b>, which apparently closes down. <!-- Martin, Brian --> The main pitch was descended by a
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series of rebelays and deviations. The shaft was essentially vertical and oval
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in cross section belling out for the bottom 30m. Also in the bottom 30m were
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various galleries with what looked like possible windows into passages although
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the light used was not strong enough to say whether these were ways on or just
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alcoves. These need further investigation by possible deviation or pendulum:
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[<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-73" id="qC2000-204-73">C2000-204-73</a>]
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[<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-74" id="qC2000-204-74">C2000-204-74</a>]
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[<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-75" id="qC2000-204-75">C2000-204-75</a>]
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[<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-76" id="qC2000-204-76">C2000-204-76</a>] One of these
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windows, some 25m above the base of the shaft to the south, leads to Snow Leopard.
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This route was used to access the <a href="pussyprance.html">Pussy Prance</a> area
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via <a href="pussyprance.html#catwalk">Catwalk</a> in 2012. </p>
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<p>The shaft ended with a rock strewn floor vaguely oval in cross section with a
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small streamway at one end which got too tight to pass.</p>
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<h3><a id="elephant">White Elephant Series</a></h3>
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<p>The White Elephant Series is a series of rift pitches which has not been
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pushed to a definite conclusion, but does not appear especially promising,
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despite carrying a considerable breeze. It was originally accessed via a 3m
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climb up in the phreatic passage between <a href="midlevel.html#veined">You're
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so Veined</a> and <a href="pussyprance.html#merryxmas">Merry Fucking Christmas
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</a>, and can also be reached from <a href="#pleasuredome">Pleasuredome</a>.</p>
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<p>From the head of the 3m climb up, a roof tube leads off. After 8m of crawling,
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the passage opens out at the head of a 2m climb down by a large boulder. A too-tight
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rift leads off on the left, but ahead opens out into a large space, the
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<b><a id="millennium">Millennium Dome</a></b>.</p>
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<p>A 20m pitch rigged from a bolt on the left hand wall backed up to the big
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boulder, with a rebelay and rope protector after 5m, lands on the boulder floor
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of the Millennium Dome, which is an L-shaped chamber at the base of a large
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aven, with each arm of the L being 15m long and 5m wide. There do not appear to
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be any ways through the boulders, but a rift leads off at the western end,
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quickly arriving at the head of a 10m pitch with a constricted take off, rigged
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from boulders. An eyehole part way down this pitch appears to lead into a
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parallel shaft. (This is almost certainly the connection through to <a
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href="nopain.html#pleasuredome">Pleasuredome</a>). The pitch lands on a
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rubble floor with a blind pit. Heading south quickly reaches a loose pitch
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head, with a rift passage continuing beyond.</p>
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<p>The pitch is 28m, rigged from a bolt on the left hand wall and deviations
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from natural threads after 4m and 12m. The second deviation is by a small rock
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bridge, where descending either side appears to go to the same place, and an
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eyehole opposite connects to the continuation of the rift at the top of the
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pitch. The base of the pitch is an oddly shaped chamber formed from several
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rifts (about 7m up the pitch, these rifts coalesce to form a single shaft.)
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North from the base of the rope leads to a 3m climb down into an inlet rift
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coming from the north which ends in a blank wall 8m from the base of the rope,
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but the rift continues too-tight heading south beneath the 3m climb. South from
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the base of the rope is another rift heading downhill which rapidly becomes
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tight with running water clearly audible [<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-78"
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id="qC2000-204-78">C2000-204-78 C</a>],
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but not visible beyond. West from the
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base of the rope leads to junction with a tight rift continuing to the west
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[<a href="qm.html#C2000-204-79" id="qC2000-204-79">C2000-204-79 C</a>],
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and another inlet rift coming from the north which ends in a blank wall after
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5m.</p>
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<p>Traversing over the top of the pitch (rope required) and a short descent
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leads to a continuation of the rift passage. A hole on the left connects to the
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28m pitch described earlier. After 5m the rift narrows and a constricted pitch
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head is reached. The descent of 15m is rigged from a large boulder and leads
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immediately to a further drop of 7m rigged from a bolt. This shorter drop may be
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bypassed by an alternative free climb in a narrow slot immediately beyond the
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pitch head. From the base the tall, narrow rift continues with two short climbs
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and a slot in the floor which gradually widens to the head of the next pitch
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after 6m. This is rigged from a Y-hang on either side of the rift, but soon
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opens out to give a fine descent of 15m landing in a spacious rift at 182m depth
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from 204b entrance. A narrow slot in the floor develops, which is just large
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enough to descend, but stones thrown down sound dead [<a
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href="qm.html#C1999-204-26"
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id="qC1999-204-26">C1999-204-26 B</a>]. It is possible to traverse above the
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slot for a short way before the rift becomes too tight.</p>
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<p>There is a noticeable breeze at the base of this pitch, as there is through
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much of the series, with air blowing into the cave. From the base of the 7m
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pitch, there is no roof visible. This area has potential, but there are no easy
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leads, and some lunatic bolt traverses may be required to try to bypass the
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tight sections.</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="centre">
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<h3><a id="survey">Survey</a></h3>
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<img style="padding: 2pt; border: 2px solid #000" src="smallsurveys/nopain.png" alt="Survey" /></div>
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<hr />
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</body>
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</html>
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