UndergroundCallum
Member
Hey cavers!
This is my first trip report, so sorry if it isn't up to scratch, hopefully some of you will find it an interesting read!
Me and Ben Marks left the TSG hut for a nice evening cave trip, we hopped in the van and drove to sidetrack. Got geared up, and begin walking to the quarry. For this trip we decided to SRT into the quarry - This is because I am still learning, so it was a nice opportunity to practice some skills. You want to see the beautiful views we got before the decent... Credits to Ben for his 10/10 photography skills!
Brilliant view! I was quite enjoying standing up... Because that was soon about to change. I began my decent, and that went pretty well, a little rusty as I hadn't done SRT for around a month, but I soon got used to descending again.
We took all our SRT kit off, and began roaming to find the cave entrance. As we arrive to the entrance My worst nightmare stares at me.. Spiders. So I did what any brave man does, I sent Ben first (thanks Ben
). Then the crawl began, thank god I had my knee pads.
However... I didn't come too prepared as the night before I slept at my girlfriends, so I made the mistake of brining a nearly dead head torch, and leaving the other torch in the van. We continue crawling, all of a sudden HEAD TORCH IS DEAD! Fear not though, the trip doesn't end there! Instead I went Infront, ben behind shining his head torch, and it worked (kinda).
We finally got passed the long crawl (which actually wasn't too bad!) There was some super nice formations down here, with stalactites and straws all across the ceiling! We took a look at the entrances to some digs, although I am unsure if these are still active / promising?
After our quick trip, it was time to head back! With no head torch. Thankfully we still had Bens however, so I just followed behind him making use of his light as best as possible. I think I've learned my lesson for next time...
Overall, a really nice trip! Time to get my oversuit clean for next time...
We then ascended back up the rope, which took me some time, I really need to get better at prusiking. Time to back the rope away, and get home for a nice Sunday dinner...
I hope you enjoyed my first (small) trip report. If you have any tips let me know!
This is my first trip report, so sorry if it isn't up to scratch, hopefully some of you will find it an interesting read!
Me and Ben Marks left the TSG hut for a nice evening cave trip, we hopped in the van and drove to sidetrack. Got geared up, and begin walking to the quarry. For this trip we decided to SRT into the quarry - This is because I am still learning, so it was a nice opportunity to practice some skills. You want to see the beautiful views we got before the decent... Credits to Ben for his 10/10 photography skills!
Brilliant view! I was quite enjoying standing up... Because that was soon about to change. I began my decent, and that went pretty well, a little rusty as I hadn't done SRT for around a month, but I soon got used to descending again.
We took all our SRT kit off, and began roaming to find the cave entrance. As we arrive to the entrance My worst nightmare stares at me.. Spiders. So I did what any brave man does, I sent Ben first (thanks Ben
). Then the crawl began, thank god I had my knee pads.However... I didn't come too prepared as the night before I slept at my girlfriends, so I made the mistake of brining a nearly dead head torch, and leaving the other torch in the van. We continue crawling, all of a sudden HEAD TORCH IS DEAD! Fear not though, the trip doesn't end there! Instead I went Infront, ben behind shining his head torch, and it worked (kinda).
We finally got passed the long crawl (which actually wasn't too bad!) There was some super nice formations down here, with stalactites and straws all across the ceiling! We took a look at the entrances to some digs, although I am unsure if these are still active / promising?
After our quick trip, it was time to head back! With no head torch. Thankfully we still had Bens however, so I just followed behind him making use of his light as best as possible. I think I've learned my lesson for next time...
Overall, a really nice trip! Time to get my oversuit clean for next time...
We then ascended back up the rope, which took me some time, I really need to get better at prusiking. Time to back the rope away, and get home for a nice Sunday dinner...
I hope you enjoyed my first (small) trip report. If you have any tips let me know!
