Anyone who's wandered into Lake of a Thousand Banana Skins in Far Sump Extension has probably noticed an aven that looks blind just above the start. Some have thought "I wonder if there's a passage leading off in the corner I can't quite see....."
There isn't.
After much faff and on the third time of trying (poor parking and traffic-related issues.....) we had a go. The first problem (apart from twisty new ropes!) was getting to the wall - the aven manages so start in a most unhelpful place, the only solid rock wall being almost out of reach of the ledge on the side of Major Sump Passage. Some brave spotting occurred (try spotting a man with a drill...) as I was voted "only sod with long enough arms and small enough brain to reach". A few more mud formations were converted to clart on boots with a certain amount of reluctance. A few bolts got stuck in, and a section of wall nearly got dropped on said spotter
Then a few more bolts got stuck in, a certain amount of more planned trundling of perched rocks and a reasonable amount of scrabbling occurred, and Mike was able to confirm that the corners that can't be seen from the ground are also blind. That includes the upwards continuation which can be glimpsed from the floor. The only interesting feature was the presence of flowstone in the back corner of the slope above the aven.
A faffy trip and an underestimate of the time taken to exit lead to us missing out call-out and a near-miss on yet another DCRO visit to Titan - happily a certain Rob popped over to check we were OK and saw the first people surface, rather than pushing the big red button - sorry Rob :spank:
There isn't.
After much faff and on the third time of trying (poor parking and traffic-related issues.....) we had a go. The first problem (apart from twisty new ropes!) was getting to the wall - the aven manages so start in a most unhelpful place, the only solid rock wall being almost out of reach of the ledge on the side of Major Sump Passage. Some brave spotting occurred (try spotting a man with a drill...) as I was voted "only sod with long enough arms and small enough brain to reach". A few more mud formations were converted to clart on boots with a certain amount of reluctance. A few bolts got stuck in, and a section of wall nearly got dropped on said spotter
Then a few more bolts got stuck in, a certain amount of more planned trundling of perched rocks and a reasonable amount of scrabbling occurred, and Mike was able to confirm that the corners that can't be seen from the ground are also blind. That includes the upwards continuation which can be glimpsed from the floor. The only interesting feature was the presence of flowstone in the back corner of the slope above the aven. A faffy trip and an underestimate of the time taken to exit lead to us missing out call-out and a near-miss on yet another DCRO visit to Titan - happily a certain Rob popped over to check we were OK and saw the first people surface, rather than pushing the big red button - sorry Rob :spank:
