Big Meanie / Death's Head Hole - 11 Feb 2007

Sunday February 11th 2007

Members present: Adam Wilkinson,  Adrian Turner,  Chris Ward,  Chuck Holder,  Gary Douthwaite,  John Singleton,  Laura Bennett,  Matt Ewles

Chris' report is pretty accurate, though I wouldn't go as far to say that the connection was the muddiest thing I've seen! It's muddier than and very muddy thing though, and the connecting crawl is interesting. Not tight, but a bit damp which was unexpected.

The entrance is best tackled with a simple/stop, as the rack wedges the rope against the rock creating excessive friction. A ladder for assistance back up it might be worth considering on future trips. The deviation in the riggin guide was not necessary (good job as I couldn't find it!) however, I treated the final rebelay as a deviation instead, as it was only about 6m off the ground.

At the bottom of the Big Meanie pitch (there's only one long pitch all the way to the bottom!) follow the passage the obvious way into a muddy meandering passage which goes up a slippy muddy slope. The right hand route a little on from here goes down a rocky slope to a small depression in the floor. Not the obvious way on at all! A tight squeeze must be tackled here feet first (head first would mean standing upside down!) on your left hand side, and involves slithering through until the passage opens up a little.