Pollballiny - 03 Aug 2006

Thursday August 3rd 2006

Members present: Andrew Vick,  Debbie Flowers,  John Singleton,  Matt Ewles

Very hard cave!!! Not particularly tight, except perhaps that slither down through the boulder choke, however, very hard work, constant crawling, stooping, crabwalking and flat out crawling/elbow-walking with very little breaks in between. Took us a long time to get down to the pitch (3.5hr, which for a non-SRT cave is a long time) and it seemed to go on forever.

The cave bears very little reseblance to the guide. The best way forward is to follow the streamway until you hit the obvious section known as the 'first chert' which is a false floor you can go over or under. The boulder choke is obvious when you reach it, and you must climb up and then slither down on the left through a slot that leads back to the streamway. Bit tight but not too bad.

The 'painful' crawl was no worse than anythign else in the cave, and wasn't worth the effort of avoiding.

A very satisfying, painful and difficult trip, especially with a tacklesack (which didn't get used in the end cos I forgot a spanner grrr). Am pleased we made it to the pitch. This is at the end of a spectacular tall chamber, well worth seeing, and made a satisfying end to the cave.

The return trip was the first time I have ever experienced sheer exhaustion in a cave, and I realised I had to pass the tacklesack to Andy when I could actually no longer lift it! I ached greatly the next day!

Would like to return... but not for some time!

:)