Wheelchair caving

[kay]

A friend of mine has been asked by a friend to take him caving. This second friend is active and fit, climbs, swims and so on, but is in a wheelchair (no, please don't ask me how he climbs...).

So ... any suggestions for caves in Yorks or Derbys whose entrances are wheelchair accessible, and which would be accessible to someone crawling who has good upper body strength but useless legs. With several helpers, of course.

We have rejected Valley Entrance - accessible but too wet. Yordas - too big to crawl, and I don't think he wants to be just carried around in his wheelchair. Old Ing is possible, not too far from a track, but it's a long way to push the wheelchair along the track. Thistle, Runscar - don't fancy getting a wheelchair across the boggy bits! Roger Kirk is easier - perhaps going in one of the bottom entrances.

Anyway, you get the idea ...anyone got any suggestions? (apart from the obvious one of don't even try!)

 

[Rob]

You don't get an any more wheelchair accessible entrance as Peak Cavern, Derbyshire. From the end of the show cave you have a 30m long metal slide to get you down to the old show cave and he would be off until surprise view, where a fixed metal ladder leads to the main Peak streamway. I think this may be a bit of a challenge for him, but it's a great trip to here anyway, with a bit of swimming, walking sized passages with a boulderstrewn floor, probably under 1 km in length to here.

 

[kay]

Thanks - hadn't thought of Peak, though I know the bit you mean as I have been in on a novice trip - how does one get access?

 

[Rob]

Send Jon Beck an email, i'm sure he'll be up for helping out...

john.beck6@btinternet.com

 

[Cave_Troll]

it'd be useful if we had a little more info.
you said he goes climbing. If he has no legs and thus is in a wheelchair, he may still be able to get around on his stumps.
its going to be possible but we'd need to know the extent of his abilities before recomending the best trip.

 

[tubby two]

Can he srt? if he can climb surely a modified rig to let him srt is possible, then you can go down surface shafts.
If not, GG on a winch meet, down to main chamber then there is plenty of passage heading off places. might be quite a challenge.

like mr troll said, how mobile is he?

tt.

p.s. what about mines? ones round alston would be fairly accessible in a chair.

 

[Mine Explorer]

p.s. what about mines? ones round alston would be fairly accessible in a chair.

So long as it's a narrow chair and he doesn't mind taking it through water about knee deep.

Smallcleugh, Rampgill, Capelcleugh & Brownly Hill all have standing water in the first bit and they all have reasonably narrow sections that could prove awkward for a chair. Haven't been to Tynebottom to know what that's like.

It really depends how mobile he is: Hetheringtons in Smallcleugh would be ideal - it breaks my back at the best of times, but getting to it could be as much a challenge for others in the team as it is for him!

I'd say the horselevel in Smallcleugh would be too narrow for a chair, but if he's happy making his own judgements on what's safe: The collapses & flat out crawls at the far end of the horse level leading up to gypsum corner would be ideal (just hold your breath as you go through). Once again, getting that far could be the major challenge.

 

[kay]

I think he's not intending taking the chair underground, basically abandoning it at the entrance and relying on pulling himself along on his arms. Hence my worries about water, and I'm also thinking he won't want to go very far.

I'll try and get more info ...

 

[Mark]

You don't get an any more wheelchair accessible entrance as Peak Cavern, Derbyshire. From the end of the show cave you have a 30m long metal slide to get you down to the old show cave and he would be off until surprise view, where a fixed metal ladder leads to the main Peak streamway. I think this may be a bit of a challenge for him, but it's a great trip to here anyway, with a bit of swimming, walking sized passages with a boulderstrewn floor, probably under 1 km in length to here.

I once crawled all the way out of peak cavern (broke my leg at the end of the white river series) the upper gallery is a right pain loads of big rocks to crawl round (took about 7hrs)

Good luck

 

[Pitlamp]

Jerry Wooldridge was down the BPC's winch last year at GG (see Descent magazine article). The BPC winch is running from Sat 28th May till the following Friday - but it's best to talk to them in advance of any planned trip.

Incidentally SRT is NO PROBLEM if a ratio system is devised - bloke in the Pennine did Alum Pot direct a few years back using a prussiking system based on a horizontal bar he pulled down on to move up each time. But why look on water as the enemy? Make use of it to your advantage. Get your mate into a diver's drysuit and watch him float merrily along in even really wet caves whilst everyone else moans about getting their sensitive bits wet!

Didn't Howard Jones write a very good article somewhere about caving with disabled people? Worth looking out for this? Or how about contacting the experts such as Bendrigg Lodge based at Kendal. They do outdoor activities with people with quite severe disabilities (to give respite to their normal carers). I bet they'd be delighted to help if you asked them for advice.

Caving with people with disabilities can be extremely rewarding for ALL concerned. All you need is a bit of ingenuity and determination to think "outside the box". I wish you the best of trips together!

 

[Wolfart]

Yes it was a suprise party for him and if i remember it was filmed by Sid Perou. We were once asked by someone who was partially sighted to go underground unfortunatly they did not turn up it was to be a trip into Porth yr Ogof . I am all in favour of taking persons off any disability underground because they know there limits as long as you have got the time and patience for them and hopefully they will have a long lasting memory if thier experiance

 

[kay]

Yes, I saw the film at Hidden Earth.

I also saw Sid's very good presentation at kendal on behalf of Bendrigg Lodge, and my friend (the one who is taking his disabled friend) is asking them for advice as well.

 

[Mark]

I once took aparty down Calf Holes-Browgill on a Suss freshers trip
one bloke was a complete plank, he kept putting his foot through the rungs on the entrance pitch ladder, kept falling over in the stream way and walking really slow, he was last at at the connecting crawl and told me he was unable to get through, after much verbal abuse :x he apologised for holding the trip up and passed me his artificial leg through the crawl.

 

[Pitlamp]

Actually it's sometimes handy having folk on a trip who only have one leg because artificial legs can make really useful stemples - I know a certain caver who has made use of his for this purpose many times!

 

[SamT]

:shock:

What about bagshawe - He may need a piggy back down and back up the entrance steps but you can park the car 20 yards from the entrance.

Once your down the steps, its would be easy crawing to the dungeon pitch.

 

[kay]

I've now got a bit more info.

He still has both his legs (no stumps). He can balance on them with crutches, but he can't do anything useful with them. So it prbably is a matter of crawling, using arms only, which means I think he probably needs a fairly small scale cave, something which is interesting within a reasonable crawling distance of the entrance, since it's going to be slower and harder work for him than it is for the rest of us.

SamT - how is access to Bagshawe arranged?

 

[SamT]

You phone Peter Revell who owns the cave on 01433 620540.