OFD fixed aids updates

[andrewmcleod]

I did this a while ago, but went on expedition (and a week and a bit later got expedition plague). Another resin anchor installation in OFD from Ogofa Cymru/Caving Wales:

These are pitches that can be accessed from the top of the Skyhook (please take care on the route between the Skyhook and these pitches to protect vulnerable formations). The Skyhook is still a work in progress (resin anchoring is complete but a complete solution for an 'up' pitch is not yet finished). There was a fixed rope on the Skyhook last time I was there (which may or may not have been moved onto the newer set of resin anchors that were installed there).

As usual, rigging topos for OFD can be found here:
https://swcc.org.uk/joomla-swcc/rigging-topos

or (for resin anchor installations) on the Ogofa Cymru/Caving Wales website.

 

[andrewmcleod]

Another installation by Ogofa Cymru/Caving Wales, this time adding new resin anchors to the Crevasse. Note that this route incorporated existing 12mm stainless throughbolts that are not 'approved anchors'. Also note that the rope lengths for the Poached Egg climb are probably a little conservative, while you might need to rig efficiently to get all the way across the Crevasse with a 35m rope (but it definitely can be done).

 

[andrewmcleod]

And one more... These pitches are on the way to Northern Lights if you don't want to do the squeeze up into Vault Chamber at the end of Lavender Way. The short pitch up is not new (and neither is the abandoned rope currently on that pitch); many people choose to free-climb this pitch by going slightly beyond it, climbing up and then traversing back (and using the rope to help swing into the passage).
The anchors on the traverse are new (replacing very dubious single-spit anchors) and again there is a currently an abandoned rope on these anchors currently which many people use as just a handline while making the big step across.
Obviously any ropes you find on these routes are not approved and cavers using ropes they find in caves do so at their own risk blah blah blah...
(although you also use any 'approved' anchors at your own risk as well, so basically it's all at your own risk anyway so do your own inspections and dynamic risk assessments)