Quote from Pegasus:
Fulk - please do enter - it's not just about the competition, cavers really do enjoy reading the various tales and once on here we have them for posterity
OK, you've twisted my arm:
Many years ago I used to work as an instructor, and one day a group of 9 or 10 soldiers hired the services of Dave and me as guides for a trip to Gaping Gill. The lads were all competent cavers, but none had ever been to GG before and wanted to do an exchange trip (Flood Entrance Pot / Stream Passage Pot) but did not want to waste time looking for the route. Anybody who knows the standard ?trade routes? will be aware that these routes are not especially complex, nevertheless there is plenty of scope for going wrong, and I have met more than one group who failed to make it to the Main Chamber from the bottom of Stream Passage Pot.
The day of the trip dawned bitterly cold, with about 8 inches of snow on the ground up on Ingleborough, with a biting wind whistling across the fell; we were glad to get into the relative warmth of the underworld. The trip went well, and on account of the fact that a lot of the water was locked up on the surface as ice, it was (fortunately) quite dry underground. On the way out of SPP I reached the little ?chamber? (hah hah) at the foot of the entrance tube. For those who have never been there (incidentally, an excellent trip) SPP starts out as a 7?8-m shaft lined with concrete rings, at the bottom of which is a small alcove, where two?s company, three?s a crowd. Two of the soldiers were sitting there, waiting, and at first I thought that there must be something stopping them getting out ? maybe the tube was blocked with snow? So I said ?You OK?? ?Yes, we?re fine?, came the answer. ?So why don?t you get out?? ?Go and have a look?. So I climbed up the shaft and stuck my head out, only to have it nearly blown off by the banshee wailing across the moor; even at the bottom of the shake hole, it was extremely strong, and blowing fine but very sharp spicules of snow and ice around. So I slithered back down and said, ?Yeah, I see what you mean?.
So we decided to cram as many as we could into this tiny space while the de-rigger ? err ? de-rigged, then we?d get out as quickly as possible to minimize the time spent hanging around. It was then we realized our (my??) cardinal error ? we?d left our ?normal? outdoor clothes, along with maps and compasses, at the other entrance, it was nearly dark, with the rapidly setting sun about to disappear below the horizon dimly visible, and conditions were pretty grim. ?Where?s our stuff?? came the inevitable question; ?Errr, somewhere over there?, pointing in the vague direction of Flood Entrance. ?It?s alright?, I said, ?It?s roughly south-east, so as the sun sets in the west ? over there (pointing to the fast-disappearing orb) ? we?ve got to go that way? (pointing again). ?Well, it doesn?t really set in the actual west at this time of year? said one bright spark, ?It?s some way south of west?. ?Yeah, OK, we?ll allow for that; anyway, once we reach the track we?ll soon be able to discover where we are, OK??.
No, not OK, because the track was covered in snow, and all traces of our passing that morning had been obliterated by fresh snow or the lying snow being blown around.
?Maybe if we form a line, and search that way we?ll find it? said someone. ?Ok, we?ll do that?. So we set off in line abreast, a difficult matter in the prevailing conditions. Suddenly a cry of ?Bloody Hell? went up, followed by a lot of muttered cursing; we dashed over to the source of this exclamation, to find the man on the end had ?found? Bar Pot by the simple expedient of damn-near falling down into it, what with the horrible conditions and the snow-and ice-coated rocks around its lip.
?Well, at least I know where we are now?, I said; ?Do you??, came the sarcastic response. From Bar Pot we soon found Flood Entrance, and from there it was an easy task to find the stile over the wall down to Trow Gill, where there was some shelter from the wind and spindrift.
I have to say that the guys were great ? they took the whole incident in their stride, and although there was a lot of piss-taking, there was no real criticism ? they even bought us some beer that night.
So ? would a Karakorum Goretex jacket have helped? ? maybe ? if I?d left it at the right hole!