Cave Mapper
Member
Last night CRO were called out for a solo caver overdue in Simpson's Pot. He was found safe and well at the bottom of The Pit where he had been waiting for eight hours since pulling down his abseil rope and discovering he'd gone the wrong way. This is of course the latest in a long history of such incidents, but that just makes it more inexcusable, especially as the individual was experienced and familiar with the cave.
I know the person involved quite well and although he understandably wishes to remain anonymous, I can share the following information.
The trip, apparently, was a spur-of-the-moment thing and was intended to be a quick trip 'that didn't require thinking about'. He entered the cave at about 4:30 and after scrambling down the cascades (which are sometimes roped) he was looking for the first pitch, which he remembered as being before the traverse over The Pit. Overconfidence must have been at work at this stage, because when he arrived at the traverse bolts, he set up his abseil without a moments second thought - not even glancing over the pitch head where he would have seen the polished traverse and the clearly visible continuation passage ahead. As he abseiled down, he even registered that the pitch head was tighter than he remembered, and the pitch was bigger and wetter than he remembered. But such was his confidence in this familiar cave that, without a moment's second thought, he pulled down his rope, stuffed it in the bag and set off to find the traverse. It was at this point that the cave became much less familiar, a tight downward slot led immediately to another pitch and most tellingly the cave did not look well-travelled. I think there was an 'Oh Bother' moment at that point. He knew exactly what he'd done.
He did look at the possibilities for climbing out, but sensibly dismissed that as not a sane option. He then set out to make a determined attempt to find the link to Storm Pot, which is mentioned in the guidebook, but which nobody seems to have done. He descended a very wet pitch, using a less than ideal belay, and reached a sump. There was no other way on, so he re-ascended the pitch to commence his long wait.
He had descended The Pit at 5 p.m. and the call-out time that he'd left with his partner was 10 p.m. He was stuck in a cold, wet and draughty place with nowhere to even sit down comfortably, but he managed to stay warm by spending alternate hours exercising and resting wrapped in a thin polythene survival bag.
During his wait, he had plenty of time to think about the anguish that his partner would be going through, and the trouble that the rescue team would be put to, due to his stupid mistake. He is more than a little embarrassed by the incident, and would prefer to stay anonymous.
But he wants to pass on both his apologies and his thanks to everyone involved in his rescue. So, from me, sorry everyone.
I know the person involved quite well and although he understandably wishes to remain anonymous, I can share the following information.
The trip, apparently, was a spur-of-the-moment thing and was intended to be a quick trip 'that didn't require thinking about'. He entered the cave at about 4:30 and after scrambling down the cascades (which are sometimes roped) he was looking for the first pitch, which he remembered as being before the traverse over The Pit. Overconfidence must have been at work at this stage, because when he arrived at the traverse bolts, he set up his abseil without a moments second thought - not even glancing over the pitch head where he would have seen the polished traverse and the clearly visible continuation passage ahead. As he abseiled down, he even registered that the pitch head was tighter than he remembered, and the pitch was bigger and wetter than he remembered. But such was his confidence in this familiar cave that, without a moment's second thought, he pulled down his rope, stuffed it in the bag and set off to find the traverse. It was at this point that the cave became much less familiar, a tight downward slot led immediately to another pitch and most tellingly the cave did not look well-travelled. I think there was an 'Oh Bother' moment at that point. He knew exactly what he'd done.
He did look at the possibilities for climbing out, but sensibly dismissed that as not a sane option. He then set out to make a determined attempt to find the link to Storm Pot, which is mentioned in the guidebook, but which nobody seems to have done. He descended a very wet pitch, using a less than ideal belay, and reached a sump. There was no other way on, so he re-ascended the pitch to commence his long wait.
He had descended The Pit at 5 p.m. and the call-out time that he'd left with his partner was 10 p.m. He was stuck in a cold, wet and draughty place with nowhere to even sit down comfortably, but he managed to stay warm by spending alternate hours exercising and resting wrapped in a thin polythene survival bag.
During his wait, he had plenty of time to think about the anguish that his partner would be going through, and the trouble that the rescue team would be put to, due to his stupid mistake. He is more than a little embarrassed by the incident, and would prefer to stay anonymous.
But he wants to pass on both his apologies and his thanks to everyone involved in his rescue. So, from me, sorry everyone.