Joe90
Member
Right, The planned trip was Three Windows to khaf Thary. It was also the trip that happened.
We set off on the morning of the 15th from Muscat heading towards Fins, where we (being me, Justin and another Joe) would meet with Khalid and Ahmed. Just as we arrived at Fins where the meeting place was the Mosque, we noticed that there was more than one mosque in Fins. However the big one by the beach proved to be the right one. We loaded Khalid and Ahmed's gear into our land-cruiser and started the long drive up what is a terrible road to the plateau on Jebal Bani Jabir. Stopping on route to collect Yusef and his friend who would transfer our car to the end of the exit walk. So we had a very full car with all our kit, and seven people.
Arriving at three windows is a pretty uneventful thing, its very easy to drive straight past the entrance which is only about 20ft from the track but easily missed with only an old thorny tree as a landmark. So we all fell out the car and started to pull out our ropes and personal gear. Snacking on Lebanese bread and tuna as we worked, with the two locals who will move the car looking at us as though we were mad.
I finished sorting my gear and packing my bag first so that meant I had the job of rigging on the initial descent into the cave, which I did with one of the 200m ropes to start with.
Using a huge natural thread I made the small traverse to the nicely bolted first pitch entering the cave about 1430ish. Dropping down about half way I learnt the error of my ways, I had trusted that who ever had stuffed the rope after its last use had done a good job of it. They hadent however and I came across many tangleations and struggled down to the floor which is a steep scree slope. I continued down to the next pitch trying to sort the rope as best as I could as I moved and slid my way downwards. The next few pitches are relatively short easy to pass however the rope was proving to be too much hard work. So I pulled it all out and ran through it a couple times trying to remove the twists and general mess that it was, then feeding it down over the next pitch head. All this meant that Justin had caught up with me. So we moved down together chatting rubbish as you do.
The 200m ran out and I started on the 50m which again ran out so I started on the 40m which brought us nicely to the bottom and into 'It's a Knockout' From here the ropes would all be cut and left in place as we weren't sure weather cross sections 18 and 19 might be sumped after all the recent storms we have had.
Once the others had caught up we started heading on in. It was wet down there, passing through many pools, and roof traverses that take you over pools that would be hard to get back out off should you drop in. Abseil after abseil after abseil, it went on for what seemed like an eternity. Me and Justin moved on ahead of the others with Khalid and Ahmed stopping for photographs and discovering Ahmed doesn't much like water! Which later proved to be an issue.
After a long old time we reached our first little stop and look at the survey. An initial muttering was that we had reached 'Downhams Chamber'! Fantastic, we would be out in no time we were flying through! In reality we had reached the right hand bend just by where there is the sump and before 'Opportunity Knocks' starts. It had taken us a long time to get here, and we were now starting to think that in actual fact we would be out for sun rise about 0600. I had a little poke up the sump, (more like ducks) for about 30 or 40m until it was time to head back to the trip in hand.
We continued on down 'Opportunity Knock's' for another age, passing more pools and multiple abseils and traverses.
The 'Low and Stern Canal' is very well named, it is just that. It also goes on and on and on. The Selma Forest however is very nice, with beautiful stalagmites, stalactites and columns everywhere. By this time we had split into two groups, with Me, Justin and Joe heading up the front followed by Khalid and Ahmed a little, sometimes a little more behind, as we found out when we waited nearly an hour for them to catch up (bloody photographers). We regrouped in the real 'Downhams Chamber' and moved on together to the 'Canyon Room' in 'Seventh Hole'. We had now been going for about ten hours.
Here we celebrated a good bit of caving with dry clothing, nuts and Khalid had even brought a can of grolsh to share!
Before here it had been new to all of us, from here on out Khalid, Justin and Ahmed had passed through before. Justin and Ahmed only once but Khalid many times. He assured us "Really guy's, no more water. Definitely no more water now"
He was a LIAR!
After a short break here we continued on towards the 'Flood Maze', which is well named as here things went a little wrong. I still cant tell you how we did it, I haven't worked it out. What happened was, we came across water (as you would expect somewhere called the 'Flood Maze' that states 'water appears'). Now warm and dry we (I) decided to check out the 'High Salvation Bypass' which appeared to take us around the water. Ideal! After a little poking about I returned to the others and told them to follow, I had found the way through and we could abseil down at the other end bypassing the water. When we got to the abseil and looked closer the passage below looked uncomfortably familiar! Khalid decided he would go back and take the wet way, and if my bypass idea worked he would come out below us. Well he didn't. I also abseiled down to confirm we had definitely been there before.
So we backtracked to the water and put on our wet gear again, I decided to move on ahead to try and catch Khalid to tell him we were following him and my bypass was wrong. Now caving with my bag, and Khalid's very very heavy bag full of bricks and lead I moved like the wind trying to catch him through cauldron after cauldron full of cold water (no more water my ginger hairy arse!). I was unsuccessful in my attempt to catch him, and we was reluctant to stop! I got stuck in a cauldron and couldn't climb out the other side on my own. I don't know how he managed it, I have a feeling he used the hand-line in place but left it down the other side (although he deny's it). So the other's caught up with me instead of me catching up with Khalid. We now had another issue too, Ahmed was verging hypothermia and was unable to climb the pitches out of cauldrons leaving Justin to haul him up them. So with my help Joe climbed out this cauldron and passed the hand-line down, Which made it very easy. We put Ahmed in all my dry warm clothing and continued. No more water for a while helped Ahmed get back together, Still no sign of damned Khalid and his bag was getting heavier, the lead must of been having baby's (well probably not but it felt like it).
We passed through the 'Wind Drain' where it got wet again, Ahmed was very reluctant to take of my warm clothing to don his wet stuff again. 'Hurricane Alley' was a little windy, Hardly hurricane like. The 'Rat Maze Gours' were pretty cool. It then opened up spectacularly, and we decided to have a break and put my warm stuff back onto Ahmed whilst I did a runner up to somewhere where the name of is disputed between two friends of mine who don't get on, over this issue. It is 'Crystal Chamber' according to Reinhard, and 'Two Brothers Chamber' according to Khalid. Now on the survey it isn't named, but its just past the 'Rat maze Gours' and drops south west, looking a bit like a scorpions tail... Whatever its name, it is a beautiful place!
I returned to the others and we moved on out down the 'Selma Highway' which isn't a fast place too move through. More abseils and dodgy traverses with badly placed rigid ally ladders (which I am ashamed to say I did bring to the entrance, that however is another story completely and a rather sore point) lead to the last 20m pitch. From here it is easy going through a huge chamber, just a little route finding and we could see day light!
We sat in the entrance, one man missing but the rest of us were good. We talked through what our next move was to find Khalid whilst we pooled our last water together and ate some food as we warmed in the morning sun.
We were tired, we had been going for 18 and a half hours now. We didn't want to go back in to look for Khalid but if he wasn't at the car we had no choice. There is no rescue service here, If I was to get into trouble here. The only people I would want around me were currently around me (apart from Khalid!).
Just as we Started off on our two hour ish walk to the car we heard "Aloooha' It was Khalid, he had been to the car, eaten and had water and returned to us with more water.
He explained how after setting off to check the wet way, he realised he hadn't passed under us. He was worried we had abseiled and gone on another route to try and find him. Having no spare battarie's or water or food or any damned thing as I had it all he decided it was best to move on to the exit knowing the route and knowing we would be safe together. When he reached the end he was cold, and very thirsty. The sun wasn't quite up as it was just about 0600, roughly two hours ahead of us Ahmed's water and cold issues really slowed us down, also looking for Khalid slowed us down too. We had no idea where he was, if he had slipped and was unconscious. He made his way to the car, walking slowly trying not to use more energy than needed. Once he got there, he changed into dry clothing, ate and drank then returned for us with more water.
I was very happy to see him, almost more happy to give him the lead lined bag! We walked on back to the car together in the morning sun, Drove back up to 'Three Windows' where I volunteered to head back in to retrieve the ropes, by the time I had come out to the surface it was about 1530, meaning the trip stretched just over 24 hours!
We loaded the car and made our way down the mountain to Fins, where Khalid and Ahmed got there car. I probably don't need to say there was a bit of red bull drunk on the drive back to Muscat.
So all in all, it was a fantastic trip. A beautiful cave and very divers trip with multiple abseils and climbs, traverses and swims, Nice fresh water, Smelly black bubbling water! More mosquito's towards seventh hole than is comfortable and of course the fantastic formations.
Photos will follow when I can get copies of Khalid.
We set off on the morning of the 15th from Muscat heading towards Fins, where we (being me, Justin and another Joe) would meet with Khalid and Ahmed. Just as we arrived at Fins where the meeting place was the Mosque, we noticed that there was more than one mosque in Fins. However the big one by the beach proved to be the right one. We loaded Khalid and Ahmed's gear into our land-cruiser and started the long drive up what is a terrible road to the plateau on Jebal Bani Jabir. Stopping on route to collect Yusef and his friend who would transfer our car to the end of the exit walk. So we had a very full car with all our kit, and seven people.
Arriving at three windows is a pretty uneventful thing, its very easy to drive straight past the entrance which is only about 20ft from the track but easily missed with only an old thorny tree as a landmark. So we all fell out the car and started to pull out our ropes and personal gear. Snacking on Lebanese bread and tuna as we worked, with the two locals who will move the car looking at us as though we were mad.
I finished sorting my gear and packing my bag first so that meant I had the job of rigging on the initial descent into the cave, which I did with one of the 200m ropes to start with.
Using a huge natural thread I made the small traverse to the nicely bolted first pitch entering the cave about 1430ish. Dropping down about half way I learnt the error of my ways, I had trusted that who ever had stuffed the rope after its last use had done a good job of it. They hadent however and I came across many tangleations and struggled down to the floor which is a steep scree slope. I continued down to the next pitch trying to sort the rope as best as I could as I moved and slid my way downwards. The next few pitches are relatively short easy to pass however the rope was proving to be too much hard work. So I pulled it all out and ran through it a couple times trying to remove the twists and general mess that it was, then feeding it down over the next pitch head. All this meant that Justin had caught up with me. So we moved down together chatting rubbish as you do.
The 200m ran out and I started on the 50m which again ran out so I started on the 40m which brought us nicely to the bottom and into 'It's a Knockout' From here the ropes would all be cut and left in place as we weren't sure weather cross sections 18 and 19 might be sumped after all the recent storms we have had.
Once the others had caught up we started heading on in. It was wet down there, passing through many pools, and roof traverses that take you over pools that would be hard to get back out off should you drop in. Abseil after abseil after abseil, it went on for what seemed like an eternity. Me and Justin moved on ahead of the others with Khalid and Ahmed stopping for photographs and discovering Ahmed doesn't much like water! Which later proved to be an issue.
After a long old time we reached our first little stop and look at the survey. An initial muttering was that we had reached 'Downhams Chamber'! Fantastic, we would be out in no time we were flying through! In reality we had reached the right hand bend just by where there is the sump and before 'Opportunity Knocks' starts. It had taken us a long time to get here, and we were now starting to think that in actual fact we would be out for sun rise about 0600. I had a little poke up the sump, (more like ducks) for about 30 or 40m until it was time to head back to the trip in hand.
We continued on down 'Opportunity Knock's' for another age, passing more pools and multiple abseils and traverses.
The 'Low and Stern Canal' is very well named, it is just that. It also goes on and on and on. The Selma Forest however is very nice, with beautiful stalagmites, stalactites and columns everywhere. By this time we had split into two groups, with Me, Justin and Joe heading up the front followed by Khalid and Ahmed a little, sometimes a little more behind, as we found out when we waited nearly an hour for them to catch up (bloody photographers). We regrouped in the real 'Downhams Chamber' and moved on together to the 'Canyon Room' in 'Seventh Hole'. We had now been going for about ten hours.
Here we celebrated a good bit of caving with dry clothing, nuts and Khalid had even brought a can of grolsh to share!
Before here it had been new to all of us, from here on out Khalid, Justin and Ahmed had passed through before. Justin and Ahmed only once but Khalid many times. He assured us "Really guy's, no more water. Definitely no more water now"
He was a LIAR!
After a short break here we continued on towards the 'Flood Maze', which is well named as here things went a little wrong. I still cant tell you how we did it, I haven't worked it out. What happened was, we came across water (as you would expect somewhere called the 'Flood Maze' that states 'water appears'). Now warm and dry we (I) decided to check out the 'High Salvation Bypass' which appeared to take us around the water. Ideal! After a little poking about I returned to the others and told them to follow, I had found the way through and we could abseil down at the other end bypassing the water. When we got to the abseil and looked closer the passage below looked uncomfortably familiar! Khalid decided he would go back and take the wet way, and if my bypass idea worked he would come out below us. Well he didn't. I also abseiled down to confirm we had definitely been there before.
So we backtracked to the water and put on our wet gear again, I decided to move on ahead to try and catch Khalid to tell him we were following him and my bypass was wrong. Now caving with my bag, and Khalid's very very heavy bag full of bricks and lead I moved like the wind trying to catch him through cauldron after cauldron full of cold water (no more water my ginger hairy arse!). I was unsuccessful in my attempt to catch him, and we was reluctant to stop! I got stuck in a cauldron and couldn't climb out the other side on my own. I don't know how he managed it, I have a feeling he used the hand-line in place but left it down the other side (although he deny's it). So the other's caught up with me instead of me catching up with Khalid. We now had another issue too, Ahmed was verging hypothermia and was unable to climb the pitches out of cauldrons leaving Justin to haul him up them. So with my help Joe climbed out this cauldron and passed the hand-line down, Which made it very easy. We put Ahmed in all my dry warm clothing and continued. No more water for a while helped Ahmed get back together, Still no sign of damned Khalid and his bag was getting heavier, the lead must of been having baby's (well probably not but it felt like it).
We passed through the 'Wind Drain' where it got wet again, Ahmed was very reluctant to take of my warm clothing to don his wet stuff again. 'Hurricane Alley' was a little windy, Hardly hurricane like. The 'Rat Maze Gours' were pretty cool. It then opened up spectacularly, and we decided to have a break and put my warm stuff back onto Ahmed whilst I did a runner up to somewhere where the name of is disputed between two friends of mine who don't get on, over this issue. It is 'Crystal Chamber' according to Reinhard, and 'Two Brothers Chamber' according to Khalid. Now on the survey it isn't named, but its just past the 'Rat maze Gours' and drops south west, looking a bit like a scorpions tail... Whatever its name, it is a beautiful place!
I returned to the others and we moved on out down the 'Selma Highway' which isn't a fast place too move through. More abseils and dodgy traverses with badly placed rigid ally ladders (which I am ashamed to say I did bring to the entrance, that however is another story completely and a rather sore point) lead to the last 20m pitch. From here it is easy going through a huge chamber, just a little route finding and we could see day light!
We sat in the entrance, one man missing but the rest of us were good. We talked through what our next move was to find Khalid whilst we pooled our last water together and ate some food as we warmed in the morning sun.
We were tired, we had been going for 18 and a half hours now. We didn't want to go back in to look for Khalid but if he wasn't at the car we had no choice. There is no rescue service here, If I was to get into trouble here. The only people I would want around me were currently around me (apart from Khalid!).
Just as we Started off on our two hour ish walk to the car we heard "Aloooha' It was Khalid, he had been to the car, eaten and had water and returned to us with more water.
He explained how after setting off to check the wet way, he realised he hadn't passed under us. He was worried we had abseiled and gone on another route to try and find him. Having no spare battarie's or water or food or any damned thing as I had it all he decided it was best to move on to the exit knowing the route and knowing we would be safe together. When he reached the end he was cold, and very thirsty. The sun wasn't quite up as it was just about 0600, roughly two hours ahead of us Ahmed's water and cold issues really slowed us down, also looking for Khalid slowed us down too. We had no idea where he was, if he had slipped and was unconscious. He made his way to the car, walking slowly trying not to use more energy than needed. Once he got there, he changed into dry clothing, ate and drank then returned for us with more water.
I was very happy to see him, almost more happy to give him the lead lined bag! We walked on back to the car together in the morning sun, Drove back up to 'Three Windows' where I volunteered to head back in to retrieve the ropes, by the time I had come out to the surface it was about 1530, meaning the trip stretched just over 24 hours!
We loaded the car and made our way down the mountain to Fins, where Khalid and Ahmed got there car. I probably don't need to say there was a bit of red bull drunk on the drive back to Muscat.
So all in all, it was a fantastic trip. A beautiful cave and very divers trip with multiple abseils and climbs, traverses and swims, Nice fresh water, Smelly black bubbling water! More mosquito's towards seventh hole than is comfortable and of course the fantastic formations.
Photos will follow when I can get copies of Khalid.
