OFD Top - The Chasm

[Addy]

Considering a trip from Top into Pendulum Passage. Been through from Arete Chamber to Timo's Table recently but remember many years ago going through The Chasm.
I'm aware of the pitch at the 'Gnome' end (the survey shows P5 and P3 and a couple of climbs) but what's the situation at the other end? is any gear required to gain the main passage to continue to the Crevasse?

Cheers,
Graham.

 

[Les W]

Considering a trip from Top into Pendulum Passage. Been through from Arete Chamber to Timo's Table recently but remember many years ago going through The Chasm.
I'm aware of the pitch at the 'Gnome' end (the survey shows P5 and P3 and a couple of climbs) but what's the situation at the other end? is any gear required to gain the main passage to continue to the Crevasse?

Cheers,
Graham.

Last time I went that way there were no ropes on the climbs at each end of the Chasm. That was a few years ago though... 

 

[robjones]

Both times I've been there in recent years (latest almost a year ago), there was an unmaintained knotted rope on the climb up part way along the Chasm which I found vital. Everything else was straightforward scrambling.

I've been told that its possible to scramble down between the boulders at the pitch at the far end of Gnome Passage to gain the base of the Chasm, making SRT superfluous, but I've yet to check this out.

 

[Sam Richards]

I was there about a fortnight ago, and there was one knotted (red?) handline as I think Rob Jones describes.

South of this is that scramble between boulders to  avoid SRT from Gnome Passage way. Climbing up this required you to step up using a metal stemple(?). If I had been here before I would probably have chosen to rig as a pitch it beforehand, particularly if climbing down (travelling northwards).

 

[mrodoc]

From what I can remember you can bypass Chasm Passage climbs by going to the bottom of Arete and through a series of rifts to pop out further along. When I did the trip years ago the only rope descent we did was abseiling down the Crevasse with all the other pitches in Pendulum Passage being free climbable or having handlines on them. I cannot remember anything very difficult about the trip but was disappointed to miss the helictites on the wall at the bottom. Another good pull through trip is to go down the Nave which ends up very close to route from Pendulum Passage

 

[Long Drop]

Considering a trip from Top into Pendulum Passage. Been through from Arete Chamber to Timo's Table recently but remember many years ago going through The Chasm.
I'm aware of the pitch at the 'Gnome' end (the survey shows P5 and P3 and a couple of climbs) but what's the situation at the other end? is any gear required to gain the main passage to continue to the Crevasse?

Cheers,
Graham.

Hi Graham. 
If you go to Timo's table as you did previously and turn right, then after about 50m turn right again, you are in the northern end of the Chasm.  If you continue down here for (guesstimate) 50m you come to a junction at a drippy corner.  Turn left here and you go to 'poached egg' climb (a rope is recommended, anchors / maillons are in place).  Continuing the obvious route in front of you then takes you eventually to the Crevasse, where you can abseil down into the top end of Pendulum passage.  We did this trip a couple of years back, a very good day out.  There are a couple of short climbs / pitches in Pendulum Passage between the Crevasse Pitch and where there is 'easy' access down to the streamway; your climbing would need to be a lot better than mine to get up and down them without a rope / ladder!  We did the whole lot on SRT.  The good helictites are in the lower section of Pendulum Passage, downstream of the standard point for climbing down into the streamway (where there was a tatty 6' bit of old hemp rope to assist getting out of the streamway when I was last there about six months ago).  Hope this is of some help.  (The short answer is that to reach the Crevasse pitch via Timo's table the only gear I'd take would be a rope to protect poached egg climb. I would avoid all the chasm climbs and pitches.)
L