Winnats head pitches

benshannon

Active member
I'm going to do the pitches in winnats next month and I can't wait. A few questions,

Anything to be aware of or look out for? I've done the main cave up to the sewer many times.

How wet are the pitches?

What state are the ropes in the upstream pitches?
 

pwhole

Well-known member
I think the ropes are OK. We went to do them all a couple of years ago, but the krab on the first deviation was totally jammed and we couldn't get up - but I think that may have now been replaced. The down pitches were pretty wet then, but it was a wet period - I doubt there'd be much water at the moment. Two of us went to to the first sump a month ago and water was barely even leaking over to The Sewer.
 

Rob

Well-known member
I'd be interested to hear how wet the pitches are, and mostly how high/low the bottom sump is.
 

AlexR

Active member
Luke and I replaced all stuck deviation carabiners, last autumn I think (but time blurs into one mass). All ropes were in good condition.
When arriving at a left/ right junction on the up pitches, make sure to go left facing the anchors. Right leads to death boulders supported by scaff, but the rope you?re climbing is secured to that scaff.
The down pitches were very wet when we did it, so much so that I improvised a deviation with a sling & rock jammed into a crack to avoid the worst of the water. The sewer wasn?t too wet, though.
Edit:
On reflection the up pitches were pretty wet, too xD but Alastair commented that ppl probably don?t normally do Winnats in conditions like this. He said that just before buggering off & leaving me to the joy of the boulder choked with ca. 100m of ropes in my tackle sack.
 

Wardy

Active member
when we were digging and exploring the lower reaches and pitches with up and down we went in all sorts of conditions throughout the year.
The sewer never became an issue and the pitches whilst getting wetter never responded dramatically even to extremes - it would seem likely that the water is either percolation or a collection from a lot of small feeders.
The pitches always felt quite wild in wet weather, but mainly due to wind and spray rather than volumes that could cause us problems from flooding.
In answer to Rob's question on the sump levels this did fluctuate widely.
On the first discovery and survey I descended the final pitch whilst on the diving carries the pitch was mainly full.
What was surprising was that the water flowing into the sump was not really significant enough to account for the increased level as it was still a relatively small volume and so I assumed that the increased level was probably due to other flows that it joined into being higher and affecting all the contributory inlets.
Place still needs properly dye testing though if anyone is interested as the downstream sump has never been tested!
 

benshannon

Active member
Great information there guys ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š
I'm looking forward to it. Thinking I might wear a wetsuit top under my warmbac as I'm a wuss with cold water ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Wardy said:
Place still needs properly dye testing though if anyone is interested as the downstream sump has never been tested!

It's on the 'coming soon' list, I suspect. It's heading beneath Longcliffe for one thing.
 

2xw

Active member
Av eard the sumps been high recently in conjunction with giants being backed up
 

benshannon

Active member
So,
I managed to get halfway up the upstream pitches last night. Roeps seem in good condition, albeit very bouncy. All deviation krabs are good. We got to the very wet bit of the upstream pitches and had to turn back due to call out time. I'll be honest, can't say I was overly sad about that ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚ I was loving it tbf, the pitches are beautiful but I wasn't in a mood to get that wet ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜… I looked over the edge of the downstream pitch head and it was a gushing waterfall. I want to go back with sufficient time to do it all. Is the dig halfway up the upstream pitches still going on?
 

benshannon

Active member
Where is it thought to lead mate? I always find it interesting seeing where digs are and where they are hoping to go ๐Ÿ˜Š
 

JB

Member
Hey,

Just to mention that those ropes on the upstream pitches ought to be replaced no matter what they look like and if I was going in there any time soon that would be priority number 1. The ones that are in there have been in there a long time and as with any fixed ropes definitely don't come with any guarantees. Happy to have a discussion about it if anyone wants info - send me a PM with phone number.

Jules
 

benshannon

Active member
Eeeek. Yeah I must say that rope did have an incredible amount of bounce in it. ๐Ÿ˜ฌ๐Ÿ˜ฌ๐Ÿ˜ฌ
 
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