Gaping Gill Dihedral

[Lurker]

Hi,
Just wondering if somebody happens to know what ropes are required to get to the bottom of Gaping Gill via Dihedral route?  We have a permit to go there soon and it sounds very fun   (if it's not too damp). As far as I know it's p-bolted (but I might be wrong) although I don't have any details about it in the CNCC rigging guides I have hold of.  Any info is much appreciated!
Cheers
Lurker

 

[Glenn]

>Hi,
>Just wondering if somebody happens to know what ropes are required to get to the bottom of Gaping Gill via >Dihedral route? 

Two 60m ropes according to my notes.

>As far as I know it's p-bolted (but I might be wrong) although I don't have any details about it in the CNCC rigging >guides I have hold of.

There's a mixture of P Hangers and Petzl Longlife's, that's why it's not in the CNCC rigging guide.

Cheers,

Glenn

 

[Lurker]

Thanks!

 

[damian]

Agree with Glenn - 4 p-bolts then 4 deviations from fixed cords onto ledge (and end of first 60m rope). P45 and p-bolt y-hang rebelay and deviation lead to two more single bolt rebelays (p-bolts) 4m apart before the final hang to the floor (and the end of the 2nd 60m rope).

 

[Lurker]

Brilliant! That top pitch sounds like it could be fun; I'm predicting a 'brown alert' situation if I have to rig it Cheers for the info.
Lurker

 

[langcliffe]

Agree with Glenn - 4 p-bolts then 4 deviations from fixed cords

(I think Mike Wooding might have added another couple) and a silly swing

onto ledge (and end of first 60m rope). P45 and p-bolt y-hang rebelay and

a very acrobatic

deviation lead to two more single bolt rebelays (p-bolts) 4m apart

  the last of which leads you dangling without footholds scrabbling to get onto

the final hang to the floor (and the end of the 2nd 60m rope).

 

[Glenn]

Brilliant! That top pitch sounds like it could be fun; I'm predicting a 'brown alert' situation if I have to rig it Cheers for the info.
Lurker

The bit that always spooks me, is looking down the pitch from Jib Tunnel, to see daylight coming "up" the shaft....

 

[Lurker]

Well, we made it down on Saturday and it was an outstanding trip!  Emerging into daylight as you abseil down the first pitch is completely surreal and made rigging it very intimidating. It feels very lonely to be dangling there on your own out of earshot of everybody else!  However, the view across to the main shaft (when I dared to look) was breathtaking; water bouncing off ledges, into the darkness below... I was quite relieved when my feet finally touched the ground again!  The sight of another caver abseiling down the main chamber,  lamp shining through the waterfall, with other cavers higher up the pitch, is truly spectacular and unforgettable.  It was all awesome - there just aren't enough superlatives!

I noticed a couple of in-situ traverse lines on the way down.  The first one was level with the lower deviation on the first pitch and led into a narrow slot away from the main shaft.  The second was on the lower ledge (above the bottom two rebelays).  Anybody know where they go?
Cheers
Lurker

 

[langcliffe]

I noticed a couple of in-situ traverse lines on the way down.  The first one was level with the lower deviation on the first pitch and led into a narrow slot away from the main shaft.  The second was on the lower ledge (above the bottom two rebelays).  Anybody know where they go?

The first goes through Hamster Aven into Mousehole, and was put in by Mike Wooding so that he didn't have to take tackle through the Rathole entrance when he was P-bolting Rathole. The second will probably go through to the Rathole Ledge, and may have been put in by BPC.

 

[Pitlamp]

I take it you enjoyed your trip then Lurker? Good isn't it? (And a completely different character from Titan.)

Langcliffe - I agree with you about the destination of those ropes. The big ledge system which the Dihedral Route uses does connect with a ledge about 57 m down Rathole.

As a matter of interest this ledge was first visited by Wingfield and Booth of the Yorkshire Ramblers Club in 1913, just before the outbreak of the First World War (but Wingfield had predicted its existence using a sounding line the previous year). Anyone who thinks modern SRT descents of whatever route down Gaping Gill are spectacular ought to read the original account of how they were swung across the shaft by colleagues before clawing their way onto this ledge. It's all in YRC Journal 4 (13), 1913, pages 160 - 163, which makes fascinating reading. These acrobatics, almost a Century ago, make modern caving seem like sitting in a comfy armchair.

I always refer to the big ledge on Dihedral Route at the bottom of the first main drop as "Wingfield's Ledge" out of respect for a most remarkable man.

 

[langcliffe]

I always refer to the big ledge on Dihedral Route at the bottom of the first main drop as "Wingfield's Ledge" out of respect for a most remarkable man.

I have always referred to Wingfield's Ledge as the whole ledge system between the Jib Tunnel ledge and the Rathole ledge. I'm pretty sure that it's an established name.

Major C.R. Wingfield certainly was a remarkable man, and I would like to know more about him. I was under the impression that he came from an old-established family in Shropshire, and at some stage was High Sheriff of the county, but I have never been able to confirm it.

 

[Pitlamp]

I agree with you Langliffe about the whole ledge system being propely named "Wingfield's Ledge". It seems a shame that people doing SRT descents nowadays don't seem to use its proper name, even though the so called Dihedral Route only uses the eastern end of end of the ledge.

BTW, if anyone likes adventure stories, read the YRC account of the first descent of Meregill. "SRT" was alive and kicking a Century ago!

 

[psychocrawler]

I also remember an ancient shot of your actual Mr Wingfield on a ladder in Noon's Hole so he must have been an early example of a big pitch specialist in the vein of Jim Eyre in later times.

AT

 

[tonyfurnell]

That'll be the one featured inside the cover of the Caves of Fermanagh & Cavan (1997) -- I think it was shot as a reconstruction, but fair play to the man all the same! :bow: