Trips & Reports 2013

An interesting trip. We split into two groups: Toby was to go with Sarah for 'rigging practice' down Ding Dong Bell while Cat, Vicky and I were to try to find Overshadow route. After swinging through the window half way down Ding, Cat had a look over to the right up a cobble slope. She didn't seem convinced so sent me on a recce. Up the cobble slope, round a corner, through a waterfall, round another corner and into a flat... read more

Awww Walmslers, I had no idea you'd had such an epic! I'd just like to add/clarify a few things though as it makes it sound like we didn't care about poor Walmslers! After clambering up for a nosey along the passage, I was fairly sure the cobble slope had to be the right way based on the survey/rigging guide but it was all scarily loose and I didn't fancy the look of the continuing passage, so asked Walmslers to see what... read more

For many years it had been my ambition to do an underground camp in Daren Cilau. The cave had captured my imagination as an eager undergraduate caver, full of enthusiasm and ambition. Having heard anecdotal descriptions of the entrance crawl and the time machine I was keen to experience the spirit of this cave right from the early days of my caving. Until this point I have had tried Daren with varying success – one of which ended as a... read more

Probably one of the best Notts Pot trips I’ve been on. Wanting to be back in York for a sensible time, the pace of the trip was pretty relentless, as to avoid the Notts pot time drain that too often occurs. So it was off down centre route, I still find the rigging at the top section bizarre, can’t complain though, a sling rebelay does the job nicely. As usual, I had packed light for centre route, so once again... read more

Sleets Gill is a place I don't think the club has ever been to before (at least not in the last 17 years or so, according to the trips on the website), but after a recommendation from both John H and Northern Caves (which described it along the lines of "the finest cave in the area"!), Ade and I were sold, and quickly picked up some more recruits. It's a great little cave, though one strictly reserved for dry weather! I... read more

Having determined that none of the group were in a fit state to drive, a Peak Cavern bimble was the obvious choice for this CHECC trip. Full of sausage, the merry band made their way toward the gaping chasm through the bustling streets of Castleton village. The initial passages of Peak were perfectly proportioned for the group of 12. They wombled along the spacious streamway, inventing novel and innovative speleopastimes as they went. The mucky ducks weren't to everyone's taste, and... read more

My first time down Bar Pot (amazingly)! The trip was immensely faff free and ran very smoothly. The entrance pitch is quite awkward but relatively easy to get through before heading down the greasy slab to the second pitch. Route finding from there was quite easy to get to the main chamber with Luke recognising most of the passage. having never been in that part of the system before I wasn't much help until the crawl met up with the... read more

A surperb freshers trip to Bar Pot and perhaps one of the most efficient ever! David and I were not needed as drivers so, rather than spend the day watching telly, we decided to go with the Bar Pot trip. We went directly to The Dales while Gary went and picked up people and ropes at the container. This meant that when Garys car arrived in Ingleton, David and I had already had breakfast, and so we took the ropes... read more

So at least my 4th trip to this epic of epic caves! And once again we got there to find it rather full! An hour wait on the windy surface turned into a complete faff when the heavens opened and we all got soaked. Lovely. Anyhow after more waiting in the cold and wet the previous group finally vacated the cave and so we were off! Andy rigged the whole system after I gave him a broad overview of what... read more

Forecasts of 85 mph winds in Snowdonia and a flooded bothy meant my original weekend plans were cancelled, so it was off to BPF to join in with the club weekend away. Rushed re-packing resulted in my SRT kit getting left at home which limited the trip options somewhat! The weather had been grim all week and there was more rain forecast so we were aiming to stay out of the main drain. So, making use of Easegill's two flood... read more