'Top ten Caves / Caving Trips'

Fulk

Well-known member
We were having a discussion the other day about ?Top Ten Caves / Caving Trips?, so I figured I?d start a new thread here on this topic.

To get the ball rolling, here?s mine (in no particular order):

Gouffre Berger                             OFD (Top Entrance to OFD I)
Top Sink to Lancaster Hole                 Alum Pot
Juniper Gulf                                 Torca del Carlista (Spain)
Cueva de Agua (Sierra de Cuera, Spain)     GG / Dihedral Route
Cova de na Mitjana (Mallorca)             Dan yr Ogof

 

JasonC

Well-known member
Having only done about 1.75 of those, I can't really comment, but
Boundary Pot - Wretched Rabbit, and
Lost John's to Iron Kiln
have much to recommend them


PS, I can't think of a topic more calculated to stir a never-ending debate, with the possible exception of the merits of corvids ....  I award you the wooden spoon for being Champion Stirrer :)
 

JoshW

Well-known member
JasonC said:
Having only done about 1.75 of those, I can't really comment, but
Boundary Pot - Wretched Rabbit, and
Lost John's to Iron Kiln
have much to recommend them


PS, I can't think of a topic more calculated to stir a never-ending debate, with the possible exception of the merits of corvids ....  I award you the wooden spoon for being Champion Stirrer :)

really? you can't think of anything? need i mention the dreaded d work with relation to south wales...
 

langcliffe

Well-known member
Fulk said:
We were having a discussion the other day about ?Top Ten Caves / Caving Trips?, so I figured I?d start a new thread here on this topic.

This list is not necessarily the caves I would recommend as the Top 10, but they are probably the ones I have enjoyed, and in some cases do enjoy, most. Again, in no particular order:

T?te Sauvage - E.D.F. Tunnel
Trou du Glaz to Grotte Chevalier
Su Bentu
Gouffre Berger
Death's Head Hole to Notts II
OFD (Top Entrance to OFD I)
Swildons to Sump 1
Rat Hole
Alum Pot via Dolly Tubs
Notts Pot
 

Fulk

Well-known member
Jason:

PS, I can't think of a topic more calculated to stir a never-ending debate, with the possible exception of the merits of corvids ....  I award you the wooden spoon for being Champion Stirrer :)

And there was I thinking that this would be a bit of innocent fun (but Langcliffe has already started to make me rethink my list!).
 

Laurie

Active member
Must include Swillies to sump one; has to be the British number one for getting beginners hooked on caving.
 

Greybeard

Member
Tete Sauvage to Verna
Top Sink to Boundary
Rat Hole
Juniper Gulf
Deaths Head to Notts 2
Cracker to Notts 2
Trou de Glas through trip
Su Bentu
Voldemort to Notts 2
Anything in Notts

I could go on but ten is the limit
 

chunky

Well-known member
UK

Swildons Short Round Trip
Topsink to Wretched Rabbit
Ofd all the through trips and OFD III
Draenen to the any of the far reaches.
Daren Cilau Through Trip.
Swinstow Through Trip
Box head pot to Lost Johns
Maskhill to Oxlow exchange
Otter hole
Agen Allwedd circle trips and Trafalgar

Hoping to add to these any the weekend  (y)
 

Speleofish

Active member
Best ever is Gamvo (Papua New Guinea). Nare (also PNG) may be a close second (in many ways better, could be the world's best cave but extremely complex and requires an expeditionary approach). I suspect there are several hundred similarly wonderful caves in PNG....

Remainder (in no specific order) should include:

Juniper Gulf (by far my favourite UK cave)
Gouffre Berger
Grotte de Bournillon (fantastic entrance, explorable by unconverted girlfriends)
Swildons (pick a trip: lots of possibilities but Round Trip with a few diversions probably the best).
Alum Pot via both Churns
GB
Longwood
St Cuthberts
Shatter Cave

What this list really shows is that I need to expand my horizons. I can't believe that any one caving area should be represented more than once!


 

nearlywhite

Active member
Can't believe Derbyshire is only represented with Chunky's Maskhill to Oxlow exchange... Tut tut
No White River/Moosetrap? Ride of the Valkyries? Even the the Peak round (inc. moss chamber) is better than Swildons/Alum.
Also surprised no Swinsto. Also - shatter?!  :LOL:

You'd be better off arguing what would be the criteria for best. Ridiculous topic
 

langcliffe

Well-known member
nearlywhite said:
You'd be better off arguing what would be the criteria for best. Ridiculous topic

I find the lists interesting. I am aware that people's choices are largely influenced by experience and regional bias, but so what? If there appears to be a consensus emerging for particular trips I have not done,  I'll put them on my bucket list.

As far as Alum Pot is concerned, "dull would he be of soul to pass by a sight so touching in its majesty" as the view from the Dolly Tubs window.
 

mikem

Well-known member
Shatter has great formations, although other places are better. Lack of peak cavers engaging in the topic...

Mike
 

Hunter

Member
Not necessarily favourites but memorable for various reasons...
Swindon?s
Daren Cilau
St Cuthberts
Dow-Prov through trip
Keld Head
P8
Wookey Hole
Large Pot
GG via the main shaft
Pine tree Pot because from my first ever trip I learned the contradictory nature of names in caves....Easy Street  ;)
 

Fulk

Well-known member
Jesus wept!

Many apologies, nearlywhite, for starting a ?ridiculous topic?.

This was not meant to be a definitive list of ?The Best Caves in the World? or any such, just a bit of innocent fun, and, as langcliffe implies, it might even encourage people to do trips they might not otherwise have bothered with.
 
Great topic  :clap:

No particular order (perhaps  :-\)

1. Birks Fell
2. Magnetometer
3. King Pot
4. Giants to East Canal and back out the round trip
5. Swildons - short round
6. Diss to Main Chamber
7. Smelt Mill Beck
8. Lost Johns (pretty much any and every way - but particularly Monastery)
9. Lancaster to WRP via main drain
10. Peak - anywhere - it's all good, but always like Moss Chamber

but, I've left out Penyghent, Alum, anything on W.Kingsdale, all of the Allotment and Wales!
 

zomjon

Member
Looking back at the 2006 edition of this topic, Titan must have been in vogue!

A quick ten of my own favourites (for various reasons!)

1. OFD1 to OFD2
2. Dan Yr Ogof Far North
3. Otter Hole
4. Swildons Short Round
5. Gentlewoman's to Youd's
6. Nettle Pot - Crumble and Beza
7. Peak White River
8. Juniper Gulf
9. Both Simpson's and Swinsto Hole
10. Ireby Fell
 

mikem

Well-known member
Hardly surprising as the top entrance had just been opened (Titan made the BBC news in Nov 2006). Otherwise most of the lists seem fairly similar:
https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=2399.0

Mike
 

nearlywhite

Active member
Fulk said:
Jesus wept!

Many apologies, nearlywhite, for starting a ?ridiculous topic?.

Some people have thin skin... Sorry I won't express my opinion on this valuable comparison of arbitrary lists - it just seems like a topic for stroking egos and one upmanship. Each cave has its own merit. Have fun
 
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