After a trip throug Prov to Dow last weekend I have been pondering.

Its 30 odd years since I was last there and have vivid memories of the drop down from the end of the gypsum traverse into Dow. I also used to try getting up from the Dow streamway at this point and even though I was climbing very hard at the time never managed to get ensconsed into the slot above the obvious foothold high in the roof. Also remember the slot being quite tight coming down it from Gypsum traverse end before belling out to a big drop to the water.

Anyway last week there was none of this trouble, and being that much older I just dont get it. Is my memory playing tricks or has something altered?

I assume you went down the rope at the end. The slot is still there, and is an alternative to the rope pitch/climb. Its in the slot about 10 m from the end. Its my way of choice as I don't much like the rope climb. Tight slot, over exposed rope climb any day of the week!

hmmm, does your slot drop down before or after the free dive Alex?
We never used to have to dive through - it would make sense as we would have looked at the final rope climb (without a rope) and not even thought about it in those days. With the rope in place last week it was fine.

The slot in question does avoid the dive, and like you say bells out below.  The slot Alex is talking about is different maybe, I only know cos I've seen him take this route myself, and I think you're on about the other one.

I know three routes that avoid the dive. Going in from Dow, the first is one that climbs onto the boulder and then traverse forward  past a little stal on the right, and then through some boulders to emerge at a relatively low level in Gypsum. The second is a tight slot that goes up from the aforementioned little stal and emerges at the top level of Gypsum. It's a lot easier to slither down then get up! I remember that one slithers down pretty much out of control until one can get a hand onto the stal to prevent a ducking in the water below.

The third is the slot at the end of Gypsum Traverse that normally has a rope on it and drops you into deep water, and I suspect is now the voie normale. I don't know whether this has always been passable, but I do know that it was widened in the 1980s (or thereabouts). It's now a reasonably straightforward rope climb.

That second one fits my memory, little stal, tight slot that was hugely difficult to get up to exit in the high level in Gypsum. But easier to get down the slot, onto the stal and a jump into the pool below. The third one was what we did last weekend and was definitely not an option back in the day. Makes things much easier going both ways now though!
Thanks guys, problem solved.

Sorry, it is the one Alex mentioned then.