Small mammal to greasy slab

[huwg]

Hi, does anyone know of a description (or just know and can tell me) how to get from bottom of small mammal to top of greasy slab in bar pot?

I'm probably being daft, but I can only find descriptions of alternative routes to the main pitch....

thanks!

 

[langcliffe]

When you get into the bedding above Flowstone Chamber, veer to the left, round a hole in the floor, though a short bedding window, and you will find yourself below the first pitch in Bar Pot. There is also a route to the top of the Greasy Slab at the bottom of the aforesaid hole.

 

[huwg]

Thanks very much langcliffe!

 

[langcliffe]

@huwg - If you look at the survey, the small plan section in the top right labelled 'The Minor Series' may make it clearer.

 

[alanw]

There are previous answers here https://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?threads/small-mammal-pot.30554/

 

[huwg]

Brilliant alanw. The other thread and the survey above looks pretty useful.

We had a poke into the scaffold of stile pot and another hole before in small mammal house before I found the way on.

This was down under the right hand wall (when facing out from bottom of pitch). Stile pot is the obvious scaffold down climb. Heading downwards a short distance a crawling height window on the right takes you into flowstone chamber. We then got up into the bedding plane above the flowstone rift, shimmied slightly left through a short tighter bit, and round the left of a big hole a few meters deep. Keeping straight ahead brought us out into the bottom of the bar pot first pitch.

Thanks again!

 

[JoshW]

If looking for small mammal from the bottom of first pitch of bar, make sure you don’t accidentally go down Allen’s crawl (although I think it might have been blocked with scaffolding now!)

 

[andrewmcleod]

For some reason nearly all descriptions of the route from Small Mammal to Bar Pot seem to be a little bit light on details... particularly the first bit where there are various places to go (briefly) wrong e.g. (if my memory is correct) when heading away from the pitch heading left rapidly ends (which is fine) but I know various people (including myself) who then after turning right have carried straight on and started descending a tight rift that goes on for just too long becoming tighter and more unpleasant as you descend...

It's not very far at all but somehow does seem to be confusing and tricky to describe.
Doesn't help there are also multiple ways out to rejoin Bar Pot (either a tight crawl into the chamber from the ledge, or, better, slightly lower to the top of the greasy slab (I think reached by descending into the big hole?).

 

[langcliffe]

For some reason nearly all descriptions of the route from Small Mammal to Bar Pot seem to be a little bit light on details... particularly the first bit where there are various places to go (briefly) wrong e.g. (if my memory is correct) when heading away from the pitch heading left rapidly ends (which is fine) but I know various people (including myself) who then after turning right have carried straight on and started descending a tight rift that goes on for just too long becoming tighter and more unpleasant as you descend...

The Braemoor description says "The way on is through an obvious muddy crawl a couple of metres from the rope, into a boulder-strewn descending passage." How would you phrase it?

 

[ChrisB]

How would you phrase it?

I've just looked at the notes I wrote after doing it: "the way on is on right, a downward crawl then down climb to Flowstone Chamber". My memory of the crawl (which will be less accurate the my contemporaneous notes and could be of another part of the cave) is that it started with a short boulder slope then flattened out to a gently sloping bedding about 80cm high, and the down climb was something like a 2m step.

I've found it quite interesting how many different ways cavers describe or remember the same cave.

 

[langcliffe]

I've just looked at the notes I wrote after doing it: "the way on is on right, a downward crawl then down climb to Flowstone Chamber". My memory of the crawl (which will be less accurate the my contemporaneous notes and could be of another part of the cave) is that it started with a short boulder slope then flattened out to a gently sloping bedding about 80cm high, and the down climb was something like a 2m step.

I've found it quite interesting how many different ways cavers describe or remember the same cave.

The problem with saying the way is to the right, is that it depends on which way one is facing when one gets off the rope. Apart from that, yours is practically the same as the Braemoor description. However, if someone comes up with better phraseology then I would be happy to change it.

 

[ChrisB]

The problem with saying the way is to the right, is that it depends on which way one is facing when one gets off the rope.

True. I had actually prefaced that in my notes with "The scaffolding on the left is Stile Pot" which would define the orientation.

 

[andrewmcleod]

I think I am also confusing various rifts in various places (namely the rift that takes you down towards Whitehall, and some other horrible rifts off Whitehall itself).

 

[langcliffe]

I think I am also confusing various rifts in various places (namely the rift that takes you down towards Whitehall, and some other horrible rifts off Whitehall itself).

Well, if you can be specific, I'll take a look at the route description for that section.

 

[Cantclimbtom]

The problem with saying the way is to the right, is that it depends on which way one is facing when one gets off the rope. Apart from that, yours is practically the same as the Braemoor description. However, if someone comes up with better phraseology then I would be happy to change it.

Wondered that myself, when there I was sitting at the bottom of the first pitch waiting for someone who really struggled to manage the chimney squeeze top section.

I was pondering that very crawl (to the "right, opposite side from the scaffolding) and wondering if it offered escape and was the route to small mammal (and if that was free climbable) if he was permanently wedged and we had to wait for a few days like pooh bear stuck in the entrance of Rabbit's burrow.

Now I know it was the right crawl, but is it climbable without rigging?

 

[Rachel]

I'm wondering why not go straight down small mammal instead of going down bar?

 

[zzzzzzed]

Now is the right crawl, but is it climbable without rigging?

No. Especially if you can't climb Tom.

 

[thehungrytroglobite]

I never bother with small mammal (apart from once a year, when I'm ticking every entrance off at GG) because I find the flat out crawl annoying and Bar Pot is a perfectly good & easy way to avoid it. However, I suffer the crawl for the sake of Stile, because the fun of Stile makes the crawl worth it.

Sorry this isn't much help, I don't really know the route off by heart - I usually just follow the polish and remember the route well enough to know when it's *not* right. Following lots of polish and SRT scratch marks on the rock tends to work well for me in this area.

I just felt compelled to whine about Small Mammal, complain about Bar Pot and sing the praises of Stile. For some strange reason that I cannot comprehend, everyone seems to dislike Bar, love Small Mammal, and ignore poor Stile's existence.

 

[langcliffe]

Wondered that myself, when there I was sitting at the bottom of the first pitch waiting for someone who really struggled to manage the chimney squeeze top section.

I was pondering that very crawl (to the "right, opposite side from the scaffolding) and wondering if it offered escape and was the route to small mammal (and if that was free climbable) if he was permanently wedged and we had to wait for a few days like pooh bear stuck in the entrance of Rabbit's burrow.

Now I know it was the right crawl, but is it climbable without rigging?

I'm not really with you, but Stile Pot does allow one to exit from the bottom of Bar Pot entrance pitch without tackle (but with a lot of grunt).

 

[Babyhagrid]

I never bother with small mammal (apart from once a year, when I'm ticking every entrance off at GG) because I find the flat out crawl annoying and Bar Pot is a perfectly good & easy way to avoid it. However, I suffer the crawl for the sake of Stile, because the fun of Stile makes the crawl worth it

The top of bar is much much worse than the flat out crawl to small mammal. Or maybe I'm a larger caver.