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Rowten Sumps

Steve Clark

Well-known member
We did a trip last night (Friday) to have some practice goes through the Rowten Sumps in KMC. There is a bit of sheath wear on the rope through the 8m sump, underwater 1-2m or so in from the Rowten side. We didn't have any spare suitable rope with us to replace it with.

As a bit of trip report after the recent rains :

Water levels in KMC were back to low/normal.
Visibility in the sumps 0.5-1m.
There's a fair bit of standing water in the roof tunnel and a layer of fresh silt between Window Aven & the pitch head.

Despite being through before, I initially made a mistake with finding the first sump/duck. There's a single bolt with a home-made ali hanger but no rope. I thought this was the place and the rope was missing. I dived through a more awkward slot with a rock bridge to find the usual 1st air space. The actual normal / easier way with a fixed rope tied through a hole in the rock is a few metres back in the passage, towards Valley. We didn't spot the rope initially, although it's pretty obvious.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Thanks for raising this problem Steve. By coincidence, I believe there was a CRO / UWFRA exercise through there today, so a few other subaquatic folk are also likely to have met the problem. At least one of these folk regularly contributes on here, so let's see if anything further is said.
 

andrewmcleod

Well-known member
Yes, I got told today that the rope on the Rowten side of the sumps was down to a few strands, so shouldn't be trusted for free-diving.

Also the dead sheep is still (mostly?) just downstream of Master Junction (but less smelly than earlier in the year).
 

JAA

Active member
Can anyone guesstimate the length of rope required to replace the line through all 3 sumps please, I’ve a length of 9mm which has been laid on my garage floor for years which could be repurposed if it’s long enough but I’d rather have an idea if it’ll be long enough first.
 

Steve Clark

Well-known member
My guess, starting from the KMC side, including knots

4m for sump/duck one
6m sideways along the 1st airspace
6m for sump 2
3m for 2nd airspace
10m for sump 3
-----
29m

Currently the worn line in sump 3 is it's own length. Two fig8 knots tied together at the bolt. It's tidy and behind you doing the long sump, works fine.

From memory, no survey, it looks like this :

2024-09-29 13.17.00.jpg
 

Sublime Lime

New member
Is there any good ways to judge water levels before entering the sumps. As in any water markers or features of water reaching (x)/above. (Rowten side)

I guess another question to ask is do the Rowten sumps ever become impassable?
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
I was on that rescue. We followed Rowten Passage upstream from Master Junction until it was a complete sump.
I'd not be wanting to free dive through from Rowten when the target airspace no longer exists.

Just remember that, although Rowten Pot swallows a substantial stream, far more is joining from the Yordas direction. Rowten itself is merely an inlet to the upstream continuation of the master cave. So yes, the Rowten sumps certainly become suicidal in flood.
 

Ian P

Administrator
Staff member
Rowton pot itself becomes impassable in wet weather. As the sad events of 1986 proved
My personal experience is that it is passable to the bottom of the last pitch but not to the sumps in extremely wet weather.
We did it on the weekend of storm “Desmond” when somewhere in the region of 100mm of rain was recorded.

We had to be inventive with the rigging but never felt in any real danger, it remains one of my most memorable trips.

Afterwards we had a quick trip into Valley Entrance and the water was up to the P hangers at the pitch. We made a very swift exit.
I then had to go up to Staveley in the Lakes to “rescue” wife and daughter from the flooding.

All usual caveats to this information apply, however this is my go to cave for a sporting trip in really wet conditions.
 

IanWalker

Active member
Is there any good ways to judge water levels before entering the sumps. As in any water markers or features of water reaching (x)/above. (Rowten side)

Is this for a free-dive from the Rowten side?

A good way to check the water levels might be to first go in Valley Entrance on the day of your visit, with someone you trust who knows the sumps:
  • you can pre-rig roof tunnel for later exiting that way, if needed
  • you can be sure KMC and Rowten passage is passable
  • you identify the correct sumps (at both ends!)
  • the shorter sump is tackled first
  • the sumps are proved free of obstruction
  • the vis on the day is known
  • opportunity to check all your team has hood/mask/weights
  • you do not rely on something you read on the internet
I suppose a downside is undertaking a greater number of free-dives. Also the air in some airbells can become fouled, and although I am not aware Rowten has this characteristic, you may like to consider this, especially if you have a large group, take a long time in the airbells, use carbide, or adopt this technique in other locations.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Ian's advice about checking from the downstream (KMC) side before commitment from the Rowten side is excellent, provided, of course, that the forecast is for subsequent dry conditions and is certain. The water can rise very fast and by the time you've exited from Valley entrance, walked up the hill to Rowten and gone down the pitches it may be a very different scenario at the sumps and in Rowten Passage.

To be honest free diving sumps that long isn't a trivial matter. There's little margin for error.
There's much to be said for timing the trip for good conditions. You really want everything working in your favour.
 

georgenorth

Active member
For me, the main reason to do it in low water conditions is that you’ll probably get much better visibility. Being able to see where you’re going is a big advantage in case anything’s been washed into the sump.
I’d also strongly recommend practicing from the VE side first, before committing to the through trip.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
To try to add a little value (hopefully) to George's helpful post above, just be aware that low water does not necessarily equal better visibility. Having spent the greater part of my life avidly studying visibility in Dales sumps, I'll try to explain.

A lot depends on time of year and preceding weather conditions. Here are two scenarios, at opposite ends of a wide spectrum (which may also be influenced by other variables not considered below for simplicity):

Scenario 1: In the summer we'll get an inch of rain. The warmer surface temperatures encourage soil microbes to break down peat faster, so water entering the phreas in upstream Kingsdale will be darkly peat-stained. But the surface flow falls off quickly and, because percolation stores in the limestone are depleted, there's very little clear percolation to flush out the black peat-stained water. So the mucky water hangs in the phreas for a long time and the visibility stays dreadful (or usually at least until the next deluge restarts the clock yet again). Thus, in predominantly dry summer weather with the occasional wet day, the vis often stays awful for months. If we get, say, 3 or 4 dry weeks though, the vis may come good.

Scenario 2: In a typical Dales winter, it rains - and it rains - and it rains . . . . Rivers stay high incessantly and the vis is poor (but not usually as poor as in the summer as described above, as soil microbes are far less active). During this period the percolation stores in the limestone become well topped up. Then we get a few days freeze up. This virtually switches off the surface flows very quickly but, because the percolation stores continue pumping out the percolation water, this crystal clear flow rapidly displaces the mucky stuff in the phreas, so the vis improves very fast. (I've known the vis go from less than half a metre to 8 m in 48 -72 hours, in such conditions). This is why CDG members watch winter forecasts like hawks, hoping for the mythical freeze ups of yore.

The downside to taking the opportunity for good vis in the winter is obviously that you're diving in colder water. You can mitigate against the cold (full neoprene cover, facemask, etc) - but there's not much you can do about filthy summer peat staining. None of the above applies to percolation-fed sumps of course; in many case these are better tackled when they're flowing well (safety considerations permitting) as the sediments in them are often finer grained so the faster moving water in wet conditions clears disturbed silt more quickly. Some forum menmbers will remember when a couple of cavers were trapped in Sleets Gill in a flood and CDG members had to dive them out. The vis was superb, even though the system was in full flood.

I should mention that the vis in Dales sumps is notoriously fickle and the above isn't 100% of the story. But hopefully it's a reasonable guide.

Just to illustrate Scenario 1; this summer has been typical, so the last time we had a chance to lay new line in Austwick Beck Head was June. Roll on a decent cold spell!
 
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