grange rigg info

[bazdog]

Got a permit for Grange rigg/christmas this weekend but weather looking pretty dodgy at the moment so was wondering If the dales have avoided most of the rain. Looking at the forecasts it seems dryish on Friday and Saturday morning so was wondering if it is possible to do a pull through in Grange Rigg then exit Christmas pot with the rest of the group. Pitches all look like straight drops (+short traverse rope) off P bolts. ( I'm Assuming rain goes through Grange rigg fairly quickly and Christmas pot would not be affected by rain on saturday afternoon?)

When reading up on the trip I couldn't find any trip reports of through trips to Pay Sank but mention of the squeeze before the drainpipe getting tighter. Obviously the drain pipe will be too wet this weekend but is this route still doable to normal sized cavers in the dry?

  Judging by the accomadation thread it could be busy in the wet weather caves this weekend so I'm guessing its still worth the walk up to Christmas pot even if we can't get far.
Hope these are not all stupid questions, not been able to get out for a while so don't want to give up on the trip too easily but obviously don't want to get flooded either.
Cheers

 

[Pitlamp]

Your questions are far from stupid bazdog! Maybe the best folk to answer most of them will be Bradford members and I'm sure some of them will see this before the weekend.

One thing I would say is that there's an awkward squeeze downstream of the first pitch in Grange Rigg. The guidebook doesn't make much of this but it may stop people. So it may be worth checking if everyone can get through this squeeze before pulling ropes down - or (perhaps better) leave the first pitch rigged and pick up the rope after the trip, just in case.

It does get wet and hostile down there by the way - do check up to date weather forecasts. I can confirm that the fells are fairly wet currently - they're in the sort of state where even a bit of rain can affect streams fast. Take care . . .

 

[jarvist]

Not a problem this weekend, but we had a failed exchange there a few years ago after the Christmas Pot entrance (I'm not sure whether the 1st or 2nd pitch - I was on the Grange Rigg trip) had iced up! In spite of attack with SRT metal work, it wasn't possible to descend.

 

[dunc]

When reading up on the trip I couldn't find any trip reports of through trips to Pay Sank but mention of the squeeze before the drainpipe getting tighter. Obviously the drain pipe will be too wet this weekend but is this route still doable to normal sized cavers in the dry?

Not heard anything about it for ages, but last I read (on ULSA rants and NFTFH sites) a few years ago suggests they couldn't fit through on their trip - if they don't fit through I would guess that rules most of us out!

 

[Antwan]

If you have the new rigging guide there is a newer entrance to the one pictured on Christmas pot.

Nice new drain pipe and stone wall jobby.

 

[bazdog]

Thanks for clearing some of that up. Luckily ice won't be a problem but it looks like there could be a lot of rain coming sat evening/sunday and you must be getting pretty wet tonight too. I'll check the visbot and the forecasts tomorrow and see whats happening but at least Deaths head/big meanie should be ok on Sunday unless its really bad.
I have got the new rigging guide which is great but it did confuse me a little as Northern caves and NFTFH have 6 pitches but there are 7 in the rigging guide. I'm guessing the 5th pitch is the crawl bypass route mentioned in NFTFH and the 4th pitch in NFTFH would be down the hole shown under the traverse in the rigging guide?

 

[Born again caver]

Did you manage the trip bazdog?

 

[bazdog]

Did you manage the trip bazdog?

Not this time i'm afraid, In hindsight it was perfectly doable  but no one wanted to do a pull through and with the rain forecast later it was deemed too risky to go down and out so we just did christmas pot instead. The rain was late as it turned out and the water level was only just above the knee at the Lost Johns sump the following morning but there is always another day (as i'm often told).
We had a look at the squeeze that leads to the sump and it was impossibly tight so no through trip possible to pay sank at the moment.