cap n chris
Well-known member
It's been a long day and looks like there's another one tomorrow.
cap 'n chris said:It's been a long day and looks like there's another one tomorrow.
Peter Burgess said:I sincerely hope so. The end of the world is due at mid-day.
mak said:it's a sad day for british caving when an access body shuts a cave on the advice of "technical, legal and insurance personnel" when a single P-Hanger on one of two routes fails - aren't there still spits around that could be used instead?
The message below was issued by the Charterhouse Caving Company at 13:30
today, March 28.
The background to the decision is that last weekend a caver experienced an
alarming incident whilst rigging the first pitch; some of the resin mortar
fixing one of the P-bolts came away in a chunk. The individual involved
was unharmed, and the bolt is still in place. However, it failed a subsequent
load test. A crack in the resin affixing one of the other bolts was also
reported. These bolts were last tested on January 15 and passed.
-----
From: Graham Mullan
Dear CCC Club Reps
Having discussed the matter of the unsafe bolt in Rhino Rift with Nick
Williams, in his role as BCA Insurance Officer, it is his recommendation
that we should effectively shut the cave whilst the situation is
evaluated.
This will take a matter of a few weeks. Hopefully no longer. I have
relayed this to Linda, our legal adviser, and she concurs with Nick's advice.
I shall therefore arrange for a replacement padlock to go on the cave
tomorrow morning. Anyone with a strong wish to go down the cave during
this period would then need to come to me for a key and a detailed description
of the problems inherent in undertaking a trip.
Nick agreed that this was the best compromise that we could put in place
immediately.
Please ensure that anybody within your club who issues keys is aware of
this, so that no-one has a wasted trip over to the cave.
Graham
CCC Secretary
-----
In the meantime the CCC and CSCC will be looking to ascertain whether this
is an unfortunate one-off occurrence, something symptomatic of a wider
problem (eg, with the resin), or the result of other actions. In this we
are being supported by BCA technical experts.
It cannot be stressed how unusual this incident is and it is for this
reason that we must try and ensure that any lessons that can be learnt, are
learnt.
Please make your members aware of the contents of this email.
Steve King
Hon. Secretary
Council of Southern Caving Clubs
Andy Sparrow said:I am inclined to agree with you - certainly there are sufficient anchors at the head of the first pitch to enable a completely safe rig without the necessity of using the suspect one. Should a cave be closed because of one dodgy anchor or should the cave remain open with that one anchor labelled as unsafe? I think it has to be the latter which leaves cavers free to devise their own alternative rigging. If this is a precedent we could see a lot of cave closures in the future.....
Peter Burgess said:and without being criticised by those who have no intention of getting involved, and who probably aren't aware of all the facts. Constructive comments or practical help welcomed, everyone else step back please.