Saut de la Pucelle
- Thread starter KevinR
- Start date
graham
New member
Cracking trip, only an hour's drive from me & this glass of red wine. Take lots of slings & a couple of very short ladders, as a couple of the pools are surprisingly hard to get out of without a foothold as the lips are undercut.
However, if you are at all competent on rope it is probably easier to rig that way, ropes can be used to assist across pools as well as up pitches & it means a lot less kit to carry.
However, if you are at all competent on rope it is probably easier to rig that way, ropes can be used to assist across pools as well as up pitches & it means a lot less kit to carry.
Thanks Graham
I have the info from the CDS46 speleo site, which lists each pitch, but they seem to indicate the ropes needed are twice the pitch length ?? am I being a bit slow?
we can SRT it unless the pitch is vertical where it will be quicker for us to ladder. Looks like there will be 5 of us, been caving between us for some 127 yrs (one of us only be caving 2 yrs! ) so not worried about the challenge, just don't want to haul too much kit!
I know the first two pitches are easy enough and have a few etriers for those awkward pools, it was just after that I wondered what the pitches were like?
Kevin
I have the info from the CDS46 speleo site, which lists each pitch, but they seem to indicate the ropes needed are twice the pitch length ?? am I being a bit slow?
we can SRT it unless the pitch is vertical where it will be quicker for us to ladder. Looks like there will be 5 of us, been caving between us for some 127 yrs (one of us only be caving 2 yrs! ) so not worried about the challenge, just don't want to haul too much kit!
I know the first two pitches are easy enough and have a few etriers for those awkward pools, it was just after that I wondered what the pitches were like?
Kevin
graham
New member
Glad you've got the pitch lengths, as my list is back in the UK, at present. Is the rope length thing a consequence of enough to tie the knots plus a bit more to get you across the odd pool? I do not remember any serious rigging issues with any of the pitches (I haven't been down the last one, owing to a cold party) only the odd problem with water.
The first time I did the trip, it was just me & the wife with as much kit as we could carry (ladders) and we got well over half way to the bottom before running out of kit. We didn't have a pitch list and were simply playing it by ear. Five people with a pitch list shouldn't have an issue.
You need neoprene, though, it's neck deep in places. In September a neofleece should be adequate, it was for me.
Oh, and if you come across a very old sack full of ladders in one of the deep pools, UBSS dropped that about fifteen years ago and therefore will not want it back!
The first time I did the trip, it was just me & the wife with as much kit as we could carry (ladders) and we got well over half way to the bottom before running out of kit. We didn't have a pitch list and were simply playing it by ear. Five people with a pitch list shouldn't have an issue.
You need neoprene, though, it's neck deep in places. In September a neofleece should be adequate, it was for me.
Oh, and if you come across a very old sack full of ladders in one of the deep pools, UBSS dropped that about fifteen years ago and therefore will not want it back!