Ireby-Rift connection now open (again)

georgenorth

Active member
Good news from Masongill: over the course of 6 trips Neil Pacey, Becka Lawson and myself have capped out a bypass to the duck at the start of SE Inlet in Ireby Fell. The duck was very flood prone, as well as also currently being cobbled up and we therefore decided to open up an easier way in. The new bypass, called 'Transpennine Express' is on the right in the main passage between NE Inlet and The Bolton Extensions - you can't miss it!

On arriving at the Rift-Ireby connection dig today we managed to dig out enough silt and flakes from the floor to lower the water level by 30cm meaning that you can now get into the far end of the Temple of Doom extensions in Rift Pot in 'normal' water conditions. Although you can get through now, we're going to lower the floor level even further, which should mean that over time the passage will empty of silt.

Obviously this opens up the potential for some excellent trips. Ireby to the end of the Eastern Front (and back) via Cripple Creek will surely become a future classic. For extra kudos you could exit via NE Inlet and True Grit!

Enjoy!

George North.
 

David Rose

Active member
Does this still leave a very difficult squeeze, or is the connection now suitable for the larger (6ft 3ins, 48 inch chest) caver?
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
Well done team.  Great to have this fully open again.

There are two squeezes on the Rift side which are pretty tight.  The corkscrew up into the '97 extension is probably the worst and has troubled some fairly lithe cavers, but the flat out squeeze over calcite before it is pretty snug too.  Then there are a couple of chokes which need a light touch too... (y)

 

georgenorth

Active member
It's not that bad (honestly!) For anybody that heads through from the Ireby side, SE Inlet starts off as a flat out crawl in a bedding plane - it very soon improves though and becomes quite a high canyon later on.

As previously mentioned the '97 breakthrough squeeze is tight!
 
OK, so using the internationally recognised "pie" grading system - how many pies are we talking?

5 Pies = No issue for most cavers, easily bypassed - think the Vice in Giant's
3 Pies = Not Birthday squeeze in Swildon's
1 Pie = I don't know - something really fricking hard
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
For the '97 series squeeze try, small thin cavers, thin cavers, thin agile cavers etc.  Fit cavers but with big chests will find it hard.  It is a sort of corkscrew twist through a triangular hole if memory serves me well.

Probably only one to one and a half pies.  Two tops 
 

adam

Member
I was luck enough to do the through trip the day after the connection was made. Both caves were rigged so it was an opportunity not to be missed. There were some exciting moments around the Temple of Doom and various loose boulder chokes. The squeezes were helmet off jobs but didn't cause too much trouble. I remember the triangular squeeze being best done in the 'superman' pose. The pretties in the following passage were quite beautiful and we laid some conservation tape to help protect them. After the connection point, where there was a 'Welcome to Lancashire' sign, the squalidness became progressively worse and worse, culminating in the (flat out?) duck just before the Ireby streamway.

Really glad it's been reopened. Excellent work, well done!
 

Alex

Well-known member
Oh wow, well done guys. I know what we are going to do next weekend!

Thanks guys :)
 
Good news excellent a good asset to future real caving trips .
Hope tight bits opened up a bit esp as not natural ie hammered off when first found and tight for quite thin folks
ANYWAY WELL DONE  :beer:
 

georgenorth

Active member
Andy Walsh said:
Hope tight bits opened up a bit esp as not natural ie hammered off when first found and tight for quite thin folks.

Hi Andy, we've been discussing this again! I think Tim made a good point last time about the squeezes: they keep away anybody who might struggle in the chokes (which would be bad). Obviously if somebody decides to stabilise the chokes then this would change, but after 28 years nobody's been keen to do it so far!

It's amazing to think that SE Inlet and the Bolton Extensions (clearly the same passage) were undiscovered for so long, despite being pretty much open passage straight off one of the most popular caves in the Dales. Makes you wonder what else is out there!
 
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