Modifications in Wretched Rabbit

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
It is with some trepidation that I start a new thread on recent modifications to this part of the Easegill Cave System.  A number of us in the Dales have been alerted to this latest act and I took a couple of photos at the weekend.  More and more cavers are likely to see this damage as it is on a popular route, so it is bound to come out sooner or later.  I know some folk will be horrified at this damage but please be restrained in any replies.

For my part I think this was a bad idea but I have no idea who was responsible.  However, I have personally set off thousands of caps in the Dales and modified many caves with scaffold and other digging techniques.  The difference is that my efforts were in the name of exploration or stabilising routes and often in remote and less visible corners of our caves.  This modification damage is on a very popular trade route where thousands of cavers have negotiated these climbs quite easily, either by making use of the in-situ rope or rigging their own tackle.

This act is bound to be widely condemned but I would love to know what the motivation is behind it and what the person or persons who did this hoped to achieve.  What ever it is please don't do any more without at least talking it through with some of the local caving community.

Capping of a foothold on the upper Wretched Rabbit climbs
wl


A capped foothold on the second climb
wl
 

Pegasus

Administrator
Staff member
I'm not the strongest caver, I'm not that tall, I'm not the best at free climbing - however I have climbed out of Wretched Rabbit without using any ropes, leg ups etc.  It's something I clearly remember doing and took personal pride in, still do.  I know to some of you, climbing out of WR is nothing, but to me it really meant something.  Now this classic set of free climbs has been, in my opinion unnecessarily altered.  Blimey, if I can free climb out most cavers can so surely no need to go making extra footholds?? I am truly upset that someone has done this to WR  :(

Please folks, think hard before altering anymore such climbs.
 
What the actual feck are people doing?

Me and a mate recently led a club Christmas trip down Trident. This featured cavers who get out about twice a year (they've all turned into climbers urgghhhh) and they all managed this with the help of a ladder that we free climbed up and placed.

Wretched Rabbit is an easy climb suitable for novices. Now don't get me wrong after a long trip it can be a workout, but that's what mates and lifelines are for if so required.

There is no need for any of these mods at all.  People are retro fitting aids to already well established routes regularly done by cavers of all abilities.  There are already bolts and fixed lines in place and some would argue that's too much - but this and the steps thing is horrendous.

I honestly can't believe that someone thinks this is OK?
 

David Rose

Active member
I went down Lancaster Hole and through to Wretched Rabbit with Badlad, a few other forum contributors, and my son Daniel a while back - when he had just turned 12. He had no bother with the climbs.

A few years earlier I took my older son Jacob down Wretched Rabbit and along to Eureka Junction for a play in the main streamway, then back out Wretched Rabbit. I had a rope to use as a lifeline ready just in case, but he jumped the gun and was up the climbs before I had time to tie him on. I was a bit annoyed at the time, but then, he was only 8.

My proposal (yes, it was a joke) to cap the Crux in Quaking Pot is starting to look quite conservative.
 

Alex

Well-known member
It looks like Lancliffe's tongue and cheek requests of a stanner chair lift on those climbs is coming to fruition.

I  used to have trouble with those climbs a long time ago but I got stronger by doing lots of climbing at the local climbing wall. If I was not fit enough for the cave I modify myself, not the cave. They are quite easy and they have an SRT bypass (the passage on the left) Also, if you can't climb them, that's what ladders are for and it's not like you would have to carry them far either.

Modifying it like this kind of takes out half the fun as you are turning it into a tourist cave?
 

2xw

Active member
Beyond the obvious objections, this work is a criminal offense, has someone had a chat with Natural England
 

PeteHall

Moderator
2xw said:
Beyond the obvious objections, this work is a criminal offense, has someone had a chat with Natural England
While there are obvious differences between capping out an unnecessary hand hold on a popular free climb and capping out a constriction in a dig, I think we should be careful about accusations of criminal activity. Should Natural England decide to take action in a case like this, it could have troubling consequences for legitimate exploration.
 

2xw

Active member
Natural England have been quite happy to give consents in the past. Their employees do read the forum...
It's not an accusation at all, unless someone has a valid consent to show, it is an offence.
 

Stu

Active member
I thought have the pool of people who had access to caps would be quite small. Am I wrong in that assertion?
 

Inferus

New member
I can't believe what I'm reading. What is wrong with people at the moment? I hope all the people responsible for the recent spell of desecration of caves read these forums and hang there heads in shame!!!  :chair:
 

andrewmcleod

Well-known member
Stuart Anderson said:
I thought have the pool of people who had access to caps would be quite small. Am I wrong in that assertion?

They are just Hilti nail gun caps and (I think) quite widely available.

Edit: you can buy them on eBay.
 

Stu

Active member
andrewmc said:
Stuart Anderson said:
I thought have the pool of people who had access to caps would be quite small. Am I wrong in that assertion?

They are just Hilti nail gun caps and (I think) quite widely available.

Edit: you can buy them on eBay.

Thanks for clearing that up.
 

tobyk

Member
This is really shocking! Surely the greatest pleasures in caving are moving through a natural landscape, and the challenges they present. Capping and other necessary modifications should surely only be done by the original explorer, and then only when necessary to make progress. Chipping water washed limestone, really? The friction here is good enough to smear, if you can?t do it, get a boost up.
This damage is criminal (or should be), and I fear this section of cave will be tainted for me now.
 

Ian Ball

Well-known member
Although I am repulsed by it and I could probably hazard a guess as to the motive of the modifications, without knowing why they were made I find judging them a little difficult.

The likelihood of the modifier popping onto the forum to explain their actions is certainly less likely when suggestions are that they will be receiving a visit from the police service. 

Are there any circumstances where it could be justified?

How about, a short person, solo caving couldn't get back up the climbs but had a capping kit and by using it meant they were able to free themselves?  (I've never capped anything so I assume a capping kit isn't too bulky for one person*)



* Braemoor is Awesome

https://www.braemoor.co.uk/caving/images/pogging1.jpg


 

PeteHall

Moderator
A caver experienced enough to be solo digging with capping kit would be easily able to manage these climbs, that have been managed by tired novices for decades, regardless of their height.
There is also a hand line in-situ.
 

kat

New member
Does it actually matter how easy or not the climb is? 

Surely the point is it is that it is irreversible damage (vandalism) - added to which it is at a location close to an entrance where there are other easy ways to deal with the obstacle (fixed rope (which I hate), put down a rope / ladder to use on the way out on a through trip, don't do a through trip unless you know you can free climb out etc). 

Otherwise the next arguement will be that it is okay to cut a step for a difficult climb.
 

CSJ

New member
This is horrid and make me very sad  :cry:!

kat said:
Surely the point is it is that it is irreversible damage (vandalism) - added to which it is at a location close to an entrance where there are other easy ways to deal with the obstacle (fixed rope (which I hate), put down a rope / ladder to use on the way out on a through trip, don't do a through trip unless you know you can free climb out etc). 
I agree.

In my opinion the only justification for modifications to a climb up (to make progression easier) has to be that access to the top of it is either not possible, or not practicable. I.e. up pitches deep into systems.
To do this to a climb that is 10m from the entrance to a cave (thus easily rigged with ladders or line from above) is horrendous. Not only is it not needed, it has been done in the most violent and inconsiderate way possible. Literally anything else would have been be better than smashing up the rock with caps .

It would be good to see some leadership from the BCA and CNCC on this! Personally i think that the holes should be filled in, and a note affixed explaining that this is not the way to behave! We must show clearly how to conserve caves for future generations, leaving it for 100's of cavers to see (and use) on a popular tip will only serve to normalize such vandalism in the eyes of new cavers.
 

Alex

Well-known member
The only upside to these being cut in could mean that all the unsightly hand-lines could be removed as they would not be needed with these footholds now? This may make up for it and indeed make the climbs look more natural when the rock "weathers" with footfall. Just looking on the upside.

Again however, such a modification as these footholds should not be made unilaterally in such a popular place even if that was the intended purpose of removing the rope. Like everyone else I am just guessing as to their purpose.
 
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