Hopeless Pot - caution

[Badlad]

The new discovery on Leck Fell.

Reports from a friend who has been down today suggest there is a dangerously loose rock half way down the entrance shaft. If it is the one i am thinking of it is part of the wall and a handy foothold to help climb up the scaffold. Apparently the rock is detaching itself and is very big - too big to lift off or remove safely.

Care is needed until the digging team can get in there and sort it out.

 

[Badlad]

This has now been made safe. Thanks to Duncan and Dave G who went up first thing this morning.

 

[MudIsGood]

Thanks! Superb work in there.

 

[CNCC]

Another warning that we have just added to the CNCC website about F'ing Hopeless...

We have received reports that the in-situ up-rope to Levelling Up (4th pitch) in F'ing Hopeless Pot is badly damaged due to unavoidable rub-points. Of course, the CNCC advises against us of in-situ ropes in all situations, but we are realistic about this and aware that many cavers will use this rope regardless of our advice, as accessing Levelling Up is extremely difficult without it. If choosing to use this rope, we urge extreme caution and risk mitigation, as the damage may not be evident from below. We would like to ask all cavers visiting F'ing Hopeless to consider taking your own short length of rope for this pitch (~13m) and, if you do choose to go against CNCC advice and use the in-situ rope, and you find it in a dangerous condition, please REMOVE the damaged rope immediately and replace with your own before anyone else ascends. You may wish to choose to anonomously 'donate' your rope to the cave for the benefit of future like-minded visitors.

Anyone visiting for the foreseeable future should plan accordingly if you wish to visit Levelling Up.

Anyone booking F'ing Hopeless via the Online Booking System will see this warning, however, we are aware that some people do not use this system, hence posting here.

(Note; We encourage use of the Online Booking System, particularly for F'ing Hopeless, to avoid two groups visiting on the same day. There are many locations in this cave where it will be hard for two groups to pass eachother without causing conservation issues).

 

[Badlad]

The rope we left on Squealing Pig was not in great condition to start with. During exploration we had a ladder on it. I'd suggest someone who visits in the near future swops if for some decent 11mm. About 15m should do it.

 

[Andrew N]

We went to the cave today - blown away by it - beautiful cave and all credit to those who put the work in to make it accessible to everyone.

Anyway, the rope on the up pitch was in a pretty horrendous condition when we found it, although miraculously it seemed to be in much better condition on the way back down, so there is no need to worry about it now.

 

[Alex]

Nice one Andrew.