JB
Member
Giants to Far Curtain
2nd December
JB and two friends
Three of us headed down towards the bottom of Giants today. Andy's Oldham lamp went out at the top of Garlands so he did the entire cave on just the little reserve bulb. Good effort fella. The crabwalk was great fun with quite alot of water. Razors Edge and Comic Act were especially entertaining. Through the Eating House and over the bad step traverse (which is very nicely rigged at the moment). Down the in-situ handline at Corkscrew Aven. I arrived at the next P-bolts and got it into my head that there was another short cascade before Geology. For some bizarre reason I didn't look down the pitch. Thought, oh, there's no handline on this at the moment; better rig one with this bit of rope that I've brought for such an eventuality. Might even be worth putting a few knots in it as well. So, put 4 knots in the rope and chucked it down. Off I went hand over hand down the knotted rope. Was about 3 metres down by the time I realised there were no more footholds and I was hanging from my arms on the rope. The ensuing conversation was brief:
Jules "Oh F*ck"
George "What?"
Jules "I'm handlining Geology"
George "Oh. Really. Why did we bring the SRT kit all the way through the crabwalk then?"
Jules "Not intentionally. Hang on a minute. I need a foothold"
George "Yes, I suppose you will. Would you like a rope or something?"
Jules "I've got a rope. It's just a bit short and I'm not securely attached to it. No...I'll manage for the time being thanks"
...and with that I yarded back up to the pitchhead and sat quietly for a minute. Now I am not usually a f*ckwit but add that to your list of ways to damage yourself underground. Swapped the rope and abseiled down and made it to Far Curtain which was fully sumped. We were in a rush so came back up the crabwalk which was good fun. Trip took 2 and a half hours in all but could easily have taken longer.
2nd December
JB and two friends
Three of us headed down towards the bottom of Giants today. Andy's Oldham lamp went out at the top of Garlands so he did the entire cave on just the little reserve bulb. Good effort fella. The crabwalk was great fun with quite alot of water. Razors Edge and Comic Act were especially entertaining. Through the Eating House and over the bad step traverse (which is very nicely rigged at the moment). Down the in-situ handline at Corkscrew Aven. I arrived at the next P-bolts and got it into my head that there was another short cascade before Geology. For some bizarre reason I didn't look down the pitch. Thought, oh, there's no handline on this at the moment; better rig one with this bit of rope that I've brought for such an eventuality. Might even be worth putting a few knots in it as well. So, put 4 knots in the rope and chucked it down. Off I went hand over hand down the knotted rope. Was about 3 metres down by the time I realised there were no more footholds and I was hanging from my arms on the rope. The ensuing conversation was brief:
Jules "Oh F*ck"
George "What?"
Jules "I'm handlining Geology"
George "Oh. Really. Why did we bring the SRT kit all the way through the crabwalk then?"
Jules "Not intentionally. Hang on a minute. I need a foothold"
George "Yes, I suppose you will. Would you like a rope or something?"
Jules "I've got a rope. It's just a bit short and I'm not securely attached to it. No...I'll manage for the time being thanks"
...and with that I yarded back up to the pitchhead and sat quietly for a minute. Now I am not usually a f*ckwit but add that to your list of ways to damage yourself underground. Swapped the rope and abseiled down and made it to Far Curtain which was fully sumped. We were in a rush so came back up the crabwalk which was good fun. Trip took 2 and a half hours in all but could easily have taken longer.
