Pwll Dwfn questions

Alkapton

Member
I guess because the server crashed the previous thread I started has gone, which means I have no idea who replied to me.  That means I can't pm you so.....

Had a great trip in Sunday even if I did not have time for fifth pitch.  Shaddowed your rigging but despite your warnings I'd be happy to use your ropes.

There are a few ropes going off in other directions than the 'normal' 5 pitches.  Where do they go?  Can I use them? Is there an up to date description of the cave?

Because of hassles and my buttie was demanding I exit the cave with hast because we were getting overdue I had to abandon a rope on the second pitch because it is snarled up on something, I'll be back in couple of weeks to get it - as long as buttie is willing to get me there again. 

Thanks for any info you can give me  (y)
 

Joel Corrigan

New member
Guess it was me you were talking to.  Please ignore the other ropes: they're all heading to various bits & bobs of exploration & trust me when I say that the anchors are not to be trusted.  There's one rope, for example, that pre-dates my interest in the area that was installed by a mate of mine long ago; the anchor/rope must not be used if you value your life (I have this on good authority from someone else who recently re-climbed the aven).  I'm not saying this as a means of protecting discoveries but as a serious caution.  If you can't see what a rope is attached to then it's madness to attempt to climb it, surely?  I went through a phase as a lad of re-climbing avens etc around Wales that my predecessors had explored & got into trouble when I found that the old rope in-situ somewhere in Dan-Yr-Ogof was tied to a small rock that the late Rob Parker had wedged into a crack.  I dislodged this & it took me a long time to re-secure it.  This wasn't helped by Martin Groves soloing part-way up & then swinging on the rope  :cry:

And not sure what a description of the cave will tell you: you've seen most of it apart from the odd desperately tight rift, an underwater dig, and some avens that we're working on.

If I head down & spot your rope then I'll stash it near the entrance below the short climb (next to a roll of airhose).
 

Alkapton

Member
Ahhh,

OK.  But then I get told that if I traverse across (following existing rope :eek:) to the right by the rebelay at the top of the second pitch I should come to the top of a pitch that will drop me in the middle of Hard Rift after the end of the third pitch ????
 

Joel Corrigan

New member
Hmm, guess it's not getting through!  Again, these are part-finished projects & not for general consumption!  It's like picking up pills that you find in the street in as much as you don't know what the side effects are.  The "traverse" is anchored with a real crap bolt (notice the use of the word "crap") & that's what your life hangs on.  It heads down following what was our original aid climbing route & hasn't been modified for SRT.  When climbing in caves it's quite common to use shite anchors or placements as you don't have the luxury of choice; when we finally get around to sorting this stuff out everything will be on shiny stainless anchors in decent rock. 

Honestly, if you want to play around on ropes then there are much safer options for learning the trade out there: this stuff has too many opportunities for getting hung up & battered.  Think I've given fair warning so that's all you'll hear from me until the inquest; case closed!!!!!  :coffee:   
 

mike barnes

New member
Joel Old Mucker,

It's not the only thing that's not getting through. You, Me, bottom sump, big new finds. You've mentioned the air hose, when are we going to use it?
 

Alkapton

Member
It gets through to me, not least because much as I love SRT, my fear of edges makes it hard to get onto ropes sometimes and traverses like the one mentioned is the worst thing for me.  Just I seem to have one person saying its OK and another saying wait...  Probably I wait, if I cant trust bolt I wait for sure :unsure: :cry: :unsure:
 

Joel Corrigan

New member
Out of sheer boredom I've finally got around to bolting the continuation pitch that heads off from the upper area of the 2nd pitch & rejoins the main route close to the bottom of the 4th.  A few words of warning:

This is part of a project that will ultimately form the route for an air hose to enable us to set up an airlift in the sump: it's not intended to be a nice alternative to the normal route, although in the future that may be the case.  As such it's rigged for experienced vertical cavers & not for beginners: the unwary will probably struggle in a few places on some of the more acrobatic manoeuvres...
 
There is a baby aid traverse to reach the small landing.  From there a short rift leads to a steep climb down to the pitch head; fatties beware!  This area is riddled with loose blocks & if you thrash about then anyone on the pitches below will struggle to understand the rules of sudoku afterwards (but will provide a good training event for the cave rescue team).  Anyone going down is invited to take an empty tackle bag to fill up with stones.

At the pitch head there are two options.  The rope closest to the approach rift follows the original bolts that Matt St Clair & I climbed; the parallel route is the one that leads down to the bottom of the 4th. The ropes are old work ones of mine & I'm happy for people to use them but please don't abseil fast or you'll just glaze them.  Likewise, please minimise the amount of welly-grip action on them as you'll just cover them in poo.  There are no rub points unless someone is being daft (as always you need to keep your eyes on what's going on above you to avoid mishap).  Please do not adjust the rigging, even if you've got some sort of SRT qualification: it's done that way for a reason!  If you want to play around with knots then practice in the bedroom  :halo:

There are no shiny P-Anchors involved, just a combination of long & short thru bolts; some are dependable Hilti ones & others are from Argos.  You will need to take a spanner as some of the bolts will need tweaking from time to time (but please don't over-tighten them).

It's not a very exciting route but in the desert of vertical caving that is South Wales I guess it's the best we can hope for! 

A general request: we've left the normal pitches in the cave rigged for a long time as we were doing a lot of work there a while ago.  The ropes are a bit tatty but generally okay & the rigging itself cuts a few corners but is essentially safe.  If you feel the need to use your own ropes then please make sure that you re-install ours the same way you found it (or just shadow rig).  I spotted a top anchor/end-knot the other day that at first glance appeared to be a bowline but on closer inspection turned out to be something that wouldn't secure an alcoholic pensioner to a bar stool.  Someone has basically untied my bowline & tried to retie it later on, leaving nothing more than a potentially lethal booby trap.  Someone was charged with attempted murder in Austria a couple of years ago for something vaguely similar! 

And a word to the wise (you know who you are): single anchor points, even if they are P-anchors, are not to be trusted.  I install anchors as part of my job & there's not a hope in hell that I'd rely on a bit of metal in a hole surrounded by resin in a slab of shitty limestone!  That way madness lies  :cry: 

 

Alkapton

Member
Thanks for info - as you suggest the general lack of decent South Wales pitches means this is jar of honey and me a hungry wasp must remember not to swim in it, but just sip gently from it ;-)
 
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