Trips & Reports 2009

o o o i went on this one. ramdom garden you have to walk through random bits of concrete here and there amazing toast rack the streamway: streamy and wahay the bolder cavern:boldery the climb up from the streamway, hardish but easier when you know where to put your feet but silly when you watch monkeys climb up after you some pretty glistening bits that look like cave writings pi chamber and the wonderous but dangerous climb down, not too dangerous though traverse that is safe with cows... read more

main report in wales 2009 logbook but massively pretty cave muddy part: christened willy wonkas chocolate river squeezy part: bolder choke of aduous and uncomfortableness aka happy happy times(ben) THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KINGS (big booming voice): with a crown of stalagtites round the top and a stool for a giant made of calcite. The unknown squeezy part past hall of the mountain kings: unknown the friendly pair of bats

We spent about 6 hours looking for the entrance, including randomly digging in a depression that had been filled by a mud slide (edit first we looked in the wrong valley though). It turns out the entrance is about 6 meters to the right from where the river sinks and was camoflaged in leaf litter (the enterance is a chipboard and steel hatch with a square cut in the centre). Once inside there is a stooping height... read more

After a sensible early night and a prompt start we found ourselves in the impressive entrance to Peak Cavern. Leaving the showcave behind us we slid down a wooden chute and followed a passage to a sandy crawl, followed a wet seriese of arches before a semi-stomp brought us down a ladder to the main streamway. An easy passage led us to Squaw's junction where we explored a strange jacusi crawl. From here we crawled around for a bit and... read more

"Set an alarm for about 7.30am so we can get up for about 8am" Most people would read this statement to mean getting out of bed for 8am, with a thirty minute lucid lie in. Chuck isn't most people and at 7.30am he was at the end of my bed badgering me to get up. In protest I slept in until 8.30. I assume Chuck realised the error because he brought me tea. When I did get up I found... read more

After not deciding on a plan on Friday night we thought we'd play it by ear on Saturday morning before choosing our trip. Unfortunately Chad and Blakey's ear didn't leave their beds until 11.30!!! And that was after one burst of the fire alarm (thanks Martyn!) and a loud game of bashing pots and pans. Blakey even tried to sneak back to bed when we weren't looking. By twelve we were formulating plans and rejecting them again. By one we had... read more

A really good trip. Didn't really know what to expect from Notts II but it turned out to be a very pleasant streamway with lots of pretty stuff upstream and in some of the inlets. Our wonderful efficiency meant we were leaving bernies at about 11, and once we'd convinced ourselves to get out of the car (it was windy and cold) and get changed (me using Cat's lab's nitrile gloves) it was only a short walk to the cave.... read more

I absolutely loved this cave! Outstanding in so many ways. No ropes meant a super efficient trip; we’d finished breakfast by around 11 and were soon heading off to Leck Fell. It took a bit of time for us to get out the car and brave the cold but a swift change later and we were on the way to the entrance, which thankfully wasn’t too far of a walk. The entrance shaft is impressive in itself and is truly... read more

Really enjoyed Notts pot! Notts pot is often described as the most complex vertical maze in Britain, due to several routes to choose from. On this adventure Matt G led Alex, Mike, George and I through the centre route to the bottom of the cave, the bottom section being for me the best part of the cave system. Finding the cave was an adventure in its self, we were told it was about half a mile from the road with George... read more

This trip was completely amazing, and easily one of my top 2 trips so far. We set off first out of the teams (in the Mike-mobile) with the ultimate team for assaulting this monster cave, consisting of myself, Matt G, Chad, George and Mike, and were the first to arrive at Bernies. The standard giant Yorkshire pud breakfast was had then we gathered ropes, chose a route and set off to find the cave. Finding the cave was a bit tricky... read more

started from york in the car wonderful sunshine, got across the other side of the dales and was not so wonderful, some could even tell it was going to be foggy when we got out; don't know how. long walk up hill and through bog with a full tummy of bernies and a brand new metal waterbottle; which was to be christened. we arrived at a concrete hole which was to be our entrance and exit, and decided who was going where.... read more

The faff rating started low for this trip with Chuck arriving at my house at about 7:40. Sadly I couldn't match Chuck's efficiency & spent the next 15 minutes sorting my gear out, but we did manage to be ar the container before 8. The biggest surprise of the day came next when Ade arrived before (yes, before!) 8 as well! All 10 of us were there within about 10 minutes and by half past we had the ropes packed... read more

I rigged my first cave, woohooo! :D Some efficient packing and the usual race to Bernies (while I practiced my rigging across the back of Chuck’s car) meant that even after a leisurely breakfast and a fair amount of shopping, we were parked and getting changed by around midday. As there were 10 of us we split into teams and went down all 3 routes. Chuck, George and Luke went down Bubbles, Ade, Mark and Anna down Shadow. I was with... read more

It was alright.

A great cave, looking at the entrance I felt nervouse and didn't think I'd be able to do it (mainly because I didnt think I'd actually fit) but on getting down there it wasn't so bad. Some cool pitches followed, with a dramatic 'car wash' cavern at the end, well worth the squeeze. Several areas of nice formations, especially in the first half, check out (but dont touch) the 'helping hand' on the way up one of the pitches. Most... read more

Good cave with plenty of variation. The entrance and later passages were tight, but not that tight. Lugging a heavy tackle sack through them was a complete pain. Not a cave for the serious pie eaters, but most people would probably be able to get through with a bit of perseverance. Beware the wait at the bottom of the last pitch. It goes into a very wet and draughty area with very little shelter. I'd definitely... read more

Absolutely awesome days caving in Vesper pot. The cave entrance was a head first on the side crawl through a tight hole, this wasn’t too bad as gravity was on our side. There was plenty of crawling (hand, knees, sideways) and squatting, some parts were quite awkward. I might as well have just gone though a juice blender! Some really nice formations started to pop up the closer we got to the first pitch, made me feel like I was... read more

This was a really beautiful cave, nice pitches and crawls. We did an Ireby Fell exchange lol! Team 1 went down the traditional route and team 2 down Shadow route. Although, as we were spending time checking out the was level situation Mark ended up going down and up Ding – Dong and Bell and Chuck and I went down and up Ding – Dong before deciding that we would rig the shadow route. The good thing about this excursion... read more

Our original plan of Out Sleet Beck Pot was overthrown by the concern of some slight drizzle during the day, and being scared by the sound of a dam holding back the river at the entrance, however, as the weather had been dry for several days, and the worst that was expected was a bit of drizzle, we though great day for Diccan... a cave that I have never actually done despite yearly trips to the Long Churn System. ... read more

+3 for individual faff because i lost my phone on top of penyghent. Got it back though.....via Bolton.

Throw a rope, step up and dare; to taste the magic hanging there! During a misty morning on a landscape swept with soul and crimson heather we ploughed down the hillside following an indecisive meandering stream towards the cave. The poor visibility brought on by the morning haze masked anything more distant than a few hundred feet giving the feeling that we were quite isolated and had left the mundane, stumbling into a place that means so much more. A... read more

I really enjoyed this cave even though we were meant to do Aquamole (another group were already down there); none the less it was a stringy cave which is what I love to do. 8) Luke rigged the cave and I got to de-rig a cave for the first time and it was great fun although I was gasping for a drink when I was out. I can now appreciation the effort it can take to reach various P hangers... read more

My first first trip back here in a little over two years. We started by heading upstream, which I had not done before, and explored almost every possible nook and cranny save for one rather tall roped climb. We then headed downstream, which was as varied and well decorated as I remember, though it is now much lower on my listed of splendidly decorated caves. The highlight of the trip has to be Imogen's insistance on heading into sumps... read more

I was really looking forward to this trip after doing a bit of research and hearing lots of great things about the cave. Even Andy was jealous, and he claims not to like caving! “Team Chemistry” had a fairly efficient start; despite a bit of messing around with a bungee cord found lying on the ground and debating what we might be able to catapult out of the container, we were away relatively early and were in Bernies for about 11.... read more

Great fun, an impressive cave with some fun exposure, one for the SRT fan.

What a great weekend and a great way to spend Valentine's Day, hehe. And what an epic, down and up Titan! The trip sort of started the night before when we trekked through York with our backpacks filled with caving gear and food for the weekend and got on a train to Sheffield, where we caught the last bus to Castleton. The bus ride was eventful in itself as there was a bus 'bouncer' who didn't like us putting our backpacks... read more