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RANA has GONE!!!!
- Thread starter graham
- Start date
shotlighter
Active member
Ah! that winch is becoming a legend - well done all!Brendan said:
A
Agrophobic
Guest
Well done to everyone involved 
must have a look when i get the chance. are there any restrictions on it?
must have a look when i get the chance. are there any restrictions on it?
Les W
Active member
Bob Smith said:Agrophobic said:Well done to everyone involved
must have a look when i get the chance. are there any restrictions on it?
Long drive, long walk, nice warm hut, hangover.
[/quote
Hangover, long drive, hangover, long walk, hangover, nice warm hut, hangover, hangover, hangover.
A
Agrophobic
Guest
Ha ha. short drive for me
nice walk, hangover!!
I meant did the diggers want folks to restrict their visits until it was stabilised/taped/surveyed or any thing like that. i assume not.
Will make the three hour drive up sometime soon.
nice walk, hangover!!
I meant did the diggers want folks to restrict their visits until it was stabilised/taped/surveyed or any thing like that. i assume not.
Will make the three hour drive up sometime soon.
M
McMole
Guest
Yes it's been a long time (since 7 October 1995) but perseverence and the tri-cyce winch has paid off. What was really good was that most of the recent top dozen diggers were there either on the day (Sunday 30th December) or shortly after. That included including several from Mendip and Sheffield. Following the first non-diving trip into Claonaite Seven, several bottles of preplaced champagne were consumed below and above ground and the Inch visited shortly thereafter for beers.
We are not restricting access, but work hasn't been completed. We need to:-
1) Keep digging and attempt to solve the water problem. The dig can sump and you wouldn't want to be trapped inside waiting for the water to percolate away.
2) If we succeed in (1) remove the dam and associated piping from the shaft.
3) Remove all the fixed ladders, scaffold platforms and other equipment from the shaft
4) Install eco-anchors on the pitches
5) Construct a concrete cap with a hinged metal lid to the estate's approval
6) Dismantle the scaffolding tower and carry everything back down the valley unless we can find another long term dig nearby (certainly not impossible!)
There are no restrictions on access at this time of year: just during the stalking season when you should contact the gamekeeper. Please remember work is still in progress. We'd ask for normal caving practice to be respected and for you to allow the diggers to reap the rewards of their labours. Poke your noses wherever you want but don't start any digging without clearing it with the GSG first. We need to know what is going on to help us to complete a high grade Rana survey and ungrade that for Claonaite.
There are a few things visitors need to be aware of:-
1) The fixed ladders will eventually be removed, probably by midsummer once we have given tourist trips to the estate owner, his sons and other locals who wouldn't appreciate dangling from a rope.
2) Until then you will need a short ladder/rope to descend the first 3m to the top of the fixed ladders (you can tie onto the scaffolding). After that you'll need considerably more. A 50m rope should then be more than enough.
3) In heavy rain the dam overflows and fills the dig. The water does slowly drain away, but could take a day to do so. We will probably leave a bucket or two there so it can be baled by trapped cavers - if nothing else it'll keep them warm!
4) Also we don't know how the lower passages react to wet weather yet - it was dry from the 30th until I left on Thursday afternoon. The Black Rift pitch after Two A's Chamber isn't long, but the top is confined and will become impassible if the stream reacts as I think it will.
5) We have taped the formations in Two A's Chamber, but there's a lot more needing done beyond there and in Claonaite Seven. Please be careful and don't head butt the formations and run all over the Great Nothern Time Machine. Try to follow the established trails and don't generate new ones.
6) Watch where you are walking. Most of the bear bones found in 1995 were 'walled off' to prevent folk trampling them (too late for one femur), but we did find two more bones on Monday in Legless Highway. They've also been surrounded with rocks to warn passing crawlers.
7) Belh Aven was scaled on New Year's Day by Mark Brown who has left his rope in situ for his next visit. There's no way on at the top and no point in climbing it except for photography. Don't climb if anyone is anywhere below you as there are plenty of unstable boulders just waiting to fall.
8) While we might now have a 'dry' entrance to Claonaite Seven it isn't an easy one for a rescue, so be aware that it is effectively a 'new' cave with many boulders just poised to bite you if disturbed.
So do come and enjoy Scotland's latest addition to the caving scene, and to end with an advertisement - contact hutbookings@gsg.org.uk if you want to stay in North West Europe's best caving hut.
We are not restricting access, but work hasn't been completed. We need to:-
1) Keep digging and attempt to solve the water problem. The dig can sump and you wouldn't want to be trapped inside waiting for the water to percolate away.
2) If we succeed in (1) remove the dam and associated piping from the shaft.
3) Remove all the fixed ladders, scaffold platforms and other equipment from the shaft
4) Install eco-anchors on the pitches
5) Construct a concrete cap with a hinged metal lid to the estate's approval
6) Dismantle the scaffolding tower and carry everything back down the valley unless we can find another long term dig nearby (certainly not impossible!)
There are no restrictions on access at this time of year: just during the stalking season when you should contact the gamekeeper. Please remember work is still in progress. We'd ask for normal caving practice to be respected and for you to allow the diggers to reap the rewards of their labours. Poke your noses wherever you want but don't start any digging without clearing it with the GSG first. We need to know what is going on to help us to complete a high grade Rana survey and ungrade that for Claonaite.
There are a few things visitors need to be aware of:-
1) The fixed ladders will eventually be removed, probably by midsummer once we have given tourist trips to the estate owner, his sons and other locals who wouldn't appreciate dangling from a rope.
2) Until then you will need a short ladder/rope to descend the first 3m to the top of the fixed ladders (you can tie onto the scaffolding). After that you'll need considerably more. A 50m rope should then be more than enough.
3) In heavy rain the dam overflows and fills the dig. The water does slowly drain away, but could take a day to do so. We will probably leave a bucket or two there so it can be baled by trapped cavers - if nothing else it'll keep them warm!
4) Also we don't know how the lower passages react to wet weather yet - it was dry from the 30th until I left on Thursday afternoon. The Black Rift pitch after Two A's Chamber isn't long, but the top is confined and will become impassible if the stream reacts as I think it will.
5) We have taped the formations in Two A's Chamber, but there's a lot more needing done beyond there and in Claonaite Seven. Please be careful and don't head butt the formations and run all over the Great Nothern Time Machine. Try to follow the established trails and don't generate new ones.
6) Watch where you are walking. Most of the bear bones found in 1995 were 'walled off' to prevent folk trampling them (too late for one femur), but we did find two more bones on Monday in Legless Highway. They've also been surrounded with rocks to warn passing crawlers.
7) Belh Aven was scaled on New Year's Day by Mark Brown who has left his rope in situ for his next visit. There's no way on at the top and no point in climbing it except for photography. Don't climb if anyone is anywhere below you as there are plenty of unstable boulders just waiting to fall.
8) While we might now have a 'dry' entrance to Claonaite Seven it isn't an easy one for a rescue, so be aware that it is effectively a 'new' cave with many boulders just poised to bite you if disturbed.
So do come and enjoy Scotland's latest addition to the caving scene, and to end with an advertisement - contact hutbookings@gsg.org.uk if you want to stay in North West Europe's best caving hut.
M
McMole
Guest
Not this time! One of our local members visited Rana in November to find the dig almost full of water with foam showing that the level had been quite a bit higher. On his next visit after a quick 15 minute trip around Two A's Chamber he returned to find the dam starting to overflow. When Julian and Bob dug their way into Two A's Chamber they too returned (after about 2 hours) to find the dam about to overflow. So since a trip around Claonaite 7 takes considerably longer than 15 minutes there is a high probability of being trapped if there is a sudden downpour. We'd better upgrade the emergency food dump at sump 6. Julian tasted the X year old oatcakes (not a good choice) and condemned them. Think the Kit-Kats should have survived better.
mrodoc
Well-known member
Can I reiterate the bit about the bear bones. On the second trip into the cave I freely own up to being the individual who stood on the femur. I blame wearing spectacles and having a dim light! However the rock is brown the bones are brown and the floor is brown and there were no tapes etc at that time. Julian Walford and I did put walls about some and found the skull but in the vicinity moved slowly with your eyes on the floor. If you don't know where they are then ask somebody. No doubt there will be a formal retrieval of said bones later in the year. I will end with an unashamed plug for the website where there are some photos of Claonaite 7 including the bones and a predictive caption! www.darkanddeep.co.uk
cavermark
New member
McMole said:
I'll emphasize this about the looseness - you can't avoid standing on a very loose slope. Also, make sure the rope tail is well clear. If you must, use the rope that goes through the deviation (which is purely functional,therefore very awkward)
Time will be much better spent helping the digging team sort drainage in the skyeway connection I'd say
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