Dowbergill Passage

[ianball11]

Being known as the possible the best Yorkshire non-vertical caving trip, Dowbergill has been on the cards for us to investigate for may months, but we've always wimped out.

We're thinking of a go this weekend, not checked the weather yet so may not be a possibility but any suggestions etc? This was our plan.

Go up Saturday to find Providence Pot Entrance, then head up to Dow Cave and head down Dowbergill to the place it suggests in NC1. Then go for the through trip from Providence to Dow on the Sunday.

Any suggestions to make sure we don't become another Dowbergill cave rescue call out? Sould we start thinking of alternatives?

Ian B.

 

[MSD]

So long as the weather is OK, I can't imagine you will have a problem. I did Prov -> Dow on a nice summer afternoon having never been in either cave before. The water was low, so we had no difficulties at the duck and tended to follow the cave at the lowest level possible at all times. The through trip took about 4 hours, we had a great time and came out wondering what all the fuss is about. So if you have done a recce from Dow first it should be a breeze.

Mark

 

[ianball11]

Very interesting! Thank you for posting.

Ian B.

 

[Cumbrian Neil]

Follow the telephone wire : ). Nice trip... especially if you do it Providence to Dow. Brew Chamber is proabablt the trickiest part.

Enjoy.

CN.

 

[susie]

Follow the telephone wire : ).

But not too literally. It was laid to keep out of the way of passing traffic as much as possible.

 

[Simon Beck]

It's nice to see that folk are still interested in ticking off the classics has opposed to hanging around on string all the time......Personally i'd just wait till the weathers fine and onsight the whole thing instead of familarizing yourself with both ends (i'd only been as far as duck and flowstone cascade on dow cave side before i did it)...If your of average build and water levels are normal you shouldn't have a problem sticking down in the streamway for 2/3 of the trip. Beware of the old insitu ropes which compliment some of the vertical bits "They are not to be trusted!". Have a great trip and take care....SI

 

[newcastlecaver]

if you go into prov on saturday to attempt the full trip I'd make sure you can remember where to leave dowbergill passage into prov in case you have to come back out that way. if the water levels were fairly high I'd say it could be hard to spot, enjoy....

I've only ever done Prov to Bridge chamber and not been to Dow yet.. still waiting too to get the whole thing done sooner or later

 

[Brendan]

I did it last November, with one guy who had done it once a few years before. It is worth taking some rope for the 'handline climb down', which is effectively a 15m pitch with really rather smooth walls. We rigged it a s a pullthru, as the guy who had done it before nearly had a member of his party fall straight down it as he was pretty tired at the time. Other than that, it is a great trip.

 

[caverholic]

If your a good climber it can be done at most times during the year except in flood conditions.
As brendan said its worth taking some rope as the 15m pitch is not easy to do a handline. Starts off as a nice narrow rift but opens up to about 3m, which is a bit too wide to bridge.

excellent trip though!

 

[susie]

the 15m pitch is not easy to do a handline. Starts off as a nice narrow rift but opens up to about 3m, which is a bit too wide to bridge.

Where abouts is this feature? Are you talking about the slither down from Brew Chamber (which can be bypassed), or the climb down from Gypsum Traverse (which can also be bypassed and is only about five metres), or somewhere else?

 

[dunc]

caverholic wrote:
the 15m pitch is not easy to do a handline. Starts off as a nice narrow rift but opens up to about 3m, which is a bit too wide to bridge.
susie wrote:
Where abouts is this feature?

I was wondering that, although I've only done it once so perhaps I took another route and missed it out? :?

If you make it there IB have a good trip!