L
Langthwaite Pot
Guest
Peterson Pot – Mistral - 15/12/05
James and George
Peterson Pot is a relatively minor cave, the entrance to which is not far from Pipikin Pot on Leck Fell. It was connected to Ease Gill a few years ago by the RRCPC.
James and I had been quite keen to do the cave for a little while. We arrived at the entrance shortly after 3.00, hoping to find some ropes in situ as we weren't too keen on carrying tackle through the infamous Roly Poly Passage. Fortunately the cave was already rigged so it was with great relief that we ditched our rope at the entrance.
The first two pitches are both very short (the 2nd is an easy climb) and we were soon at the start of Roly Poly Passage, which is an inviting looking tube in the right wall. The first 15m or so are relatively straightforward as there is quite a definite floor, beyond this the passage develops into a classic keyhole shape and progress becomes rather more arduous. After another 10m or so we reached an inlet where there was a bit of confusion as to the correct route, as it happens this is also the last obvious place to turn around before the end of Roly Poly. The next 70m or so of passage is without doubt an absolute classic! Determination to press on through the ever narrowing passage is only provided by the fact that going back would be much, much worse than continuing. However after innumerate Z-bends, and in our case much cursing we reached the skydive take-off for the 3m ‘climb' down at the end. This proved pretty tricky, although a neat standing on shoulders solution soon(ish) had us both down at the top of the 3rd pitch. This is quite narrow and dropped us down into a little chamber and the fourth pitch. An easy traverse over the top of this lead into a low crawl, beyond which a left turn beneath an aven lead through a muddy crawl into a loose bit of passage where James disturbed a TV sized boulder (beware!). Soon enough we were into ‘Svengland' in Mistral.
A boulder slope lead down to the top a longer pitch with a very slippy rope, beyond which another pitch drops rather satisfyingly into ‘The Hall of the Mountain King' and the beginning of known territory. A quick stomp in the right direction soon had us out at the surface shortly after 6.00.
All in all it was an excellent trip, though rather tiring for its relatively short length. I can't say I'll be in any hurry to go back, but I thoroughly recommend it to people who like this sort of thing – it's definitely a classic of its type!
GN.
James and George
Peterson Pot is a relatively minor cave, the entrance to which is not far from Pipikin Pot on Leck Fell. It was connected to Ease Gill a few years ago by the RRCPC.
James and I had been quite keen to do the cave for a little while. We arrived at the entrance shortly after 3.00, hoping to find some ropes in situ as we weren't too keen on carrying tackle through the infamous Roly Poly Passage. Fortunately the cave was already rigged so it was with great relief that we ditched our rope at the entrance.
The first two pitches are both very short (the 2nd is an easy climb) and we were soon at the start of Roly Poly Passage, which is an inviting looking tube in the right wall. The first 15m or so are relatively straightforward as there is quite a definite floor, beyond this the passage develops into a classic keyhole shape and progress becomes rather more arduous. After another 10m or so we reached an inlet where there was a bit of confusion as to the correct route, as it happens this is also the last obvious place to turn around before the end of Roly Poly. The next 70m or so of passage is without doubt an absolute classic! Determination to press on through the ever narrowing passage is only provided by the fact that going back would be much, much worse than continuing. However after innumerate Z-bends, and in our case much cursing we reached the skydive take-off for the 3m ‘climb' down at the end. This proved pretty tricky, although a neat standing on shoulders solution soon(ish) had us both down at the top of the 3rd pitch. This is quite narrow and dropped us down into a little chamber and the fourth pitch. An easy traverse over the top of this lead into a low crawl, beyond which a left turn beneath an aven lead through a muddy crawl into a loose bit of passage where James disturbed a TV sized boulder (beware!). Soon enough we were into ‘Svengland' in Mistral.
A boulder slope lead down to the top a longer pitch with a very slippy rope, beyond which another pitch drops rather satisfyingly into ‘The Hall of the Mountain King' and the beginning of known territory. A quick stomp in the right direction soon had us out at the surface shortly after 6.00.
All in all it was an excellent trip, though rather tiring for its relatively short length. I can't say I'll be in any hurry to go back, but I thoroughly recommend it to people who like this sort of thing – it's definitely a classic of its type!
GN.
