Croesor Mine Warning - Damaged equipment
- Thread starter Ian Adams
- Start date
An old thread but no point in starting a new one...
A warning that as of 31/10/2017 the first zipline in Croesor has snapped. There is currently a tensioned rope which can be used to cross the water but this will rapidly deteriorate with use, so for the time being assume there is NO way of crossing the first lake without getting wet!
A warning that as of 31/10/2017 the first zipline in Croesor has snapped. There is currently a tensioned rope which can be used to cross the water but this will rapidly deteriorate with use, so for the time being assume there is NO way of crossing the first lake without getting wet!
Auwings
New member
Tegwin said:
Please excuse my ignorance here but I?ve always taken a boat or two on the CRTT - wouldnt it be a good idea to put a boat in and paddle across across?
From memory the first zip is accessible at water level but I don?t recall what the edges were like there, I was to busy going whoooo whoooo as I flew across the zip.
@ Auwings.
Clearly if you take a boat you won't get wet. Getting out of the water on the other side is not easy however.
My concern is that most people don't take a boat as the in-situ canoe is adequate.
There are discussions on aditnow about re-rigging a more suitable zipline.
Clearly if you take a boat you won't get wet. Getting out of the water on the other side is not easy however.
My concern is that most people don't take a boat as the in-situ canoe is adequate.
There are discussions on aditnow about re-rigging a more suitable zipline.
Simon Wilson
New member
Tegwin said:
And what are they proposing to anchor it to?
I take little interest in mines and have only just looked at this thread. Reading through it I am gobsmacked. As I understand it mines are private property, covered by various Acts of Parliament and access is generally more problematical than it is for caves. Bearing that in mind I would expect there to be more incentive to make them safe and that it would be easier to avoid people installing dangerous anchors.
It is not difficult to install bomb-proof anchors in slate. The technology has been around for a long time, the equipment is readily available commercially and it is easy to do although it has to be done by someone who really knows what they are doing. Ideally there would also be a system for overseeing it and ensuring that installers knew what they were doing.
Like I said, I have little interest in mines so I don't usually visit mining areas or mix with mine enthusiasts and I know virtually nothing about how things are organised or if there is anything organised at all. Is it a free-for-all with people installing whatever they want including through-bolts?
Through-bolts? - oh dear, oh dear - heaven help us. Where have those people been for the past thirty years?
Wayland Smith
Active member
A person that fits rigging for commercial "adventures" has offered assistance.Simon Wilson said:
"We use M30 resin studs on ours, 50cm deep. You get a SWL of about 7,000kg on a pair of them. Fit and forget!"
Hopefully this will be taken up.
Simon Wilson
New member
Wayland Smith said:A person that fits rigging for commercial "adventures" has offered assistance.Simon Wilson said:
"We use M30 resin studs on ours, 50cm deep. You get a SWL of about 7,000kg on a pair of them. Fit and forget!"
Hopefully this will be taken up.
The conservation concerns in mines are different to caves. I would think that a relatively large stud is aesthetically acceptable in most mines. 30mm is a bit OTT though and I would have thought M16 would be more than adequate and much more cost effective.
I'm assuming every part of the system will be corrosion resistant with no carbon steel anywhere.
adam
Member
A person that fits rigging for commercial "adventures" has offered assistance.
"We use M30 resin studs on ours, 50cm deep. You get a SWL of about 7,000kg on a pair of them. Fit and forget!"
Hopefully this will be taken up.
Seems like the main barrier is funding - the best solutions are expensive. Could crowdfunding be a good way of raising money for this? I'd be happy to contribute to a quality replacement.
Simon Wilson
New member
adam said:A person that fits rigging for commercial "adventures" has offered assistance.
"We use M30 resin studs on ours, 50cm deep. You get a SWL of about 7,000kg on a pair of them. Fit and forget!"
Hopefully this will be taken up.
Seems like the main barrier is funding - the best solutions are expensive. Could crowdfunding be a good way of raising money for this? I'd be happy to contribute to a quality replacement.
Why do you think the funding might be a barrier?
It appears to me there is a potential for some measure of controversy here with companies turning historic mines into adventure playgrounds as commercial ventures but then mines always were commercial ventures... But I'm really not interested in that: my interest is in anchors.
adam
Member
Simon Wilson said:
Only because of what has been said on the aditnow thread regarding the cost of decent quality cables, anchors and the rest. I might be reading too much into it - maybe those involved are able and willing to fund it themselves. Looks like they're getting a plan together anyway...
Simon Wilson
New member
adam said:
Oh, OK. All I know about this subject is what is in this thread. I never look at aditnow.
Judi Durber
Member
Simon Wilson
New member
droid said:
Sorry. But reading this thread (and other bits of information I've come across) does give that impression. Like I said, I'm not very interested in mines or aditnow so I'll shut up and stay out of it.
Bratchley
New member
Mine explorers in many areas are very much up to date with the tech required for safe anchors. I've seen some very impressive set-ups in mines with difficult rock quality/pitch heads etc.
Funding is an issue with many mine exploring communities, not all are like the Mendips and the Peak District - caving areas with mines in them, covered by a council and lots of caving politics and well intertwined caving and mine explorer communities. A lot of the anchoring in Peak and Mendip mines in funded in a similar way to the caves there.
There are lots of places in the UK where Mine Exploring communities are a bit cut off from much of the UK's underground social/political scene - Cornwall for instance, and some areas of Wales (though there are plenty of well travelled mines in North/Mid wales). Many of these are mostly local groups, who remain quite independent from things like the BCA, CNCC/CSCC etc and do things themselves with whatever budgets they have (usually personal finances).
With what they have to use, many of these groups do very well. I'm sure if they were all handed a decent lump of cash to rig their local mines safely, the latest tech would be used.
Funding is an issue with many mine exploring communities, not all are like the Mendips and the Peak District - caving areas with mines in them, covered by a council and lots of caving politics and well intertwined caving and mine explorer communities. A lot of the anchoring in Peak and Mendip mines in funded in a similar way to the caves there.
There are lots of places in the UK where Mine Exploring communities are a bit cut off from much of the UK's underground social/political scene - Cornwall for instance, and some areas of Wales (though there are plenty of well travelled mines in North/Mid wales). Many of these are mostly local groups, who remain quite independent from things like the BCA, CNCC/CSCC etc and do things themselves with whatever budgets they have (usually personal finances).
With what they have to use, many of these groups do very well. I'm sure if they were all handed a decent lump of cash to rig their local mines safely, the latest tech would be used.
GarDouth
Administrator
Just thought I'd give people a current update if you're planning a trip. We had a success full trip in there at the weekend.
The rope on the first pitch is pretty knackered but probably ok. We rigged our own, checked the second rope then pulled through. I would recommend that.
The second rope is an almost new 9mm rope which is absolutely fine but being 9mm probably won't last long. Its also only rigged from one knot (via the various decent strops). The rub protectors are showing their age but ok if you don't bounce around like and idiot.
The zip line is no more. It has snapped (rather disturbingly) and coiled up on the Croesor side. A tensioned 10mm rope has been rigged and is in reasonable condition. It's rigged really well and good and tight although if you weigh more than 75kg you will get your arse dunked in the water! All 11 of us went over on it with a double wheeled pulley and all was good.
The suspension bridge is all fine and looks good.
The three further bridge crossings are all good. One (the third I think) has a new wire zip line from the right hand ledge via a rope traverse around the right wall.
The canoe is still in place and working well. Pollyprop pull cord is fine. It does seem to leek a bit but there is a nice red bucket to bail it!
We had a rally good trip and it's great to see that everything remains working more or less. I hope the zip wire gets replaced at some point as it's such a good trip and adds so much fun to it. I really hope that if those looking after it need money they will ask the community as I'm sure people would throw a bit of money at it if required.
Hope this helps anyone going on a trip any time soon.
The rope on the first pitch is pretty knackered but probably ok. We rigged our own, checked the second rope then pulled through. I would recommend that.
The second rope is an almost new 9mm rope which is absolutely fine but being 9mm probably won't last long. Its also only rigged from one knot (via the various decent strops). The rub protectors are showing their age but ok if you don't bounce around like and idiot.
The zip line is no more. It has snapped (rather disturbingly) and coiled up on the Croesor side. A tensioned 10mm rope has been rigged and is in reasonable condition. It's rigged really well and good and tight although if you weigh more than 75kg you will get your arse dunked in the water! All 11 of us went over on it with a double wheeled pulley and all was good.
The suspension bridge is all fine and looks good.
The three further bridge crossings are all good. One (the third I think) has a new wire zip line from the right hand ledge via a rope traverse around the right wall.
The canoe is still in place and working well. Pollyprop pull cord is fine. It does seem to leek a bit but there is a nice red bucket to bail it!
We had a rally good trip and it's great to see that everything remains working more or less. I hope the zip wire gets replaced at some point as it's such a good trip and adds so much fun to it. I really hope that if those looking after it need money they will ask the community as I'm sure people would throw a bit of money at it if required.
Hope this helps anyone going on a trip any time soon.
