Your most frightening underground experience

[Dave H]

Ah! You've just reminded me of a little problem I had in there many years ago. I was travelling downstream of the connection at some pace as we were a bit late and couldn't find the crawl (someone was sitting in front of it!)
I caught the outside of my left wrist on one of the sharp ledges down there, and received a 3" cut right down to the tendons. Wrapping it up with a cloth from one of the camera ammo cans, stopped the bleeding, and whilst my mates were gathering round I noticed the now vacated crawl. I didn't have any problems getting to the large entrance pot. You all say that's not too scary - quite correct, but that was about to change!
Most of the guys (and girls) I was with had recently had Mountain Rescue training, and insisted (forcibly) that I was in no fit state to climb a ladder or prusik out and would have to be hauled out of the tallest part of the pot. I'm not a lover of heights and this was an exceptionally scary 70', especially because they were getting quite a bit of bounce in the hauling.
Being a Sunday evening, we couldn't find the local doctor, but we did find the vet in one of the pubs. I reckoned that vets have to study for longer than doctors, so I let him sew it up, and a good job he made of it too.
I never want to be hauled up a pitch again :evil:

 

[Cumbrian Neil]

Dave H reminded me of a trip down Penyghent Pot in the early 90s when one of my old caving mates, Paul Cook, took a bit of a spill on a sharp flake of rock and made a nice deep cut in his hand. This occured as we were heading out of the system after visiting the "sane" peoples end to the cave (we were still a long way from the entrance). He was "rescued" by a lovely Geordie who was affectionately known as the "the fat knacka." She promptly removed her brassiere to be used as a pressure bandage. The question is, what was more frightening, the cut or the removal of a very large crimson bra (she wasn't exactly eye candy)!!

But, poor Paul's agony did not end there... when we got back to Horton a few hours later we realised that the pub was about to call last orders. Obviously, the descision was made to drink beer instead of getting Paul to the hospital. After all, what are friends for in cases of emergency. By the time we made our way to the hospital in Preston, Paul was looking more than a bit forelorn and the Knacka was wondering how her Victoria Secret undergarment would ever be used for its intended purpose in life.

What a great memory!

Cumbrian Neil.

 

[Deep-Penetration]

Its kinda long winded but if you have 5 minutes to spare call in for a read..
http://www.deeppenetration.info/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=27&mode=&order=0&thold=0

Ta.
Tim

 

[Rachel]

I used to be one of those people who was convinced that if I had a mishap, especially near the entrance of a cave right next to the road, I'd grit my teeth and haul myself out - not like those softies who call out cave rescue for a broken nail. Then about six years ago, I was on a trip down Bull Pot of the Witches. We'd had a good shufty around, played in the climb up/slide down rifts and decided to freeclimb out up the two pitches. Up the lower one was no problem, but at the bottom of the next was a queue of four people waiting to go up, so two of us decided to have a look up a little climb next to the pitch. I got right up to the top, about 12 feet above the floor and was bridging out at absolutely full stretch, feet on one wall, back of my neck on the other, when I felt my head end slipping .... oh shit. The next thing there was a hell of a bang on the back of my head .... nothing .... woke up face down in a puddle on the floor. It turned out that I'd hit my head on a flake, which had flipped me the right way up (breaking my helmet in the process) so I got away with shredded ligaments and tendons in my ankles. The worst part was that after I got hauled out by CRO and settled down on the grass verge with a brew, a call came through to say that someone in Clapham had had a heart attack, so the one and only ambulance was going to them first, so I had to sit and wait for 3 hours for it to come back!

 

[tiggs]

I got rather wedged into a very very small hole once down Goyden (it was like trying to stuff a hippo thro a cat flap.. not to be recommended!)

Managed to get my chest jammer erm well and truly jammed once as well on top of a pitch, then i managed to almost fall off a big slippery slope in OFD2 Not half as scary as what everyone else has experienced but enough to make me scary silly Perhaps i should take up a less extreme sport like knitting or something

 

[danthecavingman]

I think my most frightening experience was getting stuck underwater in Russet Well in Castleton. There is a funny L-shaped slot not too far in. The only way through is the upright of the L on your side. Having got in successfully I was coming out in bad vis and tried to get through the flat bit of the L and got a bottle wedged. Let me assure you that panic can set in rather rapidly when you realise you're stuck in such a hostile environment. I forced myself to calm down and let the current clear the visibility. Quickly realised I had tried to go the wrong way and managed to wriggle free and get out. I was very relieved to be out of there!

The other heart stopping moment I had was down P7 when (unlifelined) I had one side of an electron ladder snap on me.....

The tale of Meregill Hole must wait for another day......

Dan

 

[diggerdog adam]

Last sun, after doing alum pot direct got to the top of the big pitch and in the process of passing the rebley when my secuity link touched a sharp bit of rock and cut through like a hot knife threw butter luckly i was clipped in on cows tails but just makes ya think a bit thankgod that the main rope is nowhere near! (BTW its was only about three months old)

 

[Dave H]

The tale of Meregill Hole must wait for another day......

Been there, done it, nearly had the rescue!

Actually I've done it plenty of times without any problem, but this one December (late '80s or very early '90s) there was deep snow and it had been frosty for days.

The stream was not running when the two of us entered the aven entrance, and as there was no forcast for it to get above freezing that day we rigged the pitches with SRT straight down (i.e. not using the wet weather traverses to dry hangs of the pitches).

As we started to return, a trickle started coming down the lower pitches, and was actually quite a sizeable stream by the time we reached the bottom of the third pitch. It was incredibly cold here and we were exhausted by the time we got to the top of the pitch through the waterfall! The second pitch was a bit easier, and of course, the aven entrance is dry.

The funny thing is though, that when we surfaced the surface stream was only a very slow trickle and it was very cold again. Our fingers stuck to the ladders we had used on the aven entrance as we rolled them, and we found yet another one of the 101 uses for warm urine!

The moral of the story is that even though the temperature might not get above freezing, the winter sun can still make melt water.

 

[biffa]

I think my most scary moment was in Matienzo in northern Spain. We were going down the 117.5m deep 116shaft to explore the bottom and survey. It was hot, very hot; I'd already drunk most of the 3 litres of water on the 2 hour carry up the hill so was sceptical of spitting in on the bone dry rope to cool down my stop.

So over the edge to a rebelay (1 hex, 1 dead shrub). Start abseiling. Reach the first wet bit of rope where someone had spat on the rope, soil myself when i hear the sizzling sound. Put all my jammers on the rope and look scared. Inspect the rope more carefully - very old 9mm. Decide that I can't lose that much face and carry on abseiling.

Interestingly this is the only shaft in whcih shouting below is worth while because you had time to look up, time the swing on the rope and pull an appropriate face of terror as the rocks hissed past.

The cantabrian cows then tried to kill us on the walk off

Come to matienzo - It's great!

 

[pisshead]

"This is 116, and this is a big rock"

"Go"

 

[caverholic]

The other worrying thing as you were going down the rope is that if you did burn through it and started falling.
Your body would land in the pool of feted ming and the bottom and would be lost for ever.

 

[Brendan]

And if I had been below him I would be mighty pissed off at having to bolt climb the pitch to get out, only to be attacked by the bl£$dy cows!

 

[Cave_Troll]

so you weren't scared by my rigging off a hex and dead shrub, just the overheating descent equipment.

Scary moment. half way up a 60m pitch having my croll come undone. Somehow the purpose of the safety cord slipped my mind and i hung on with one hand while trying to get the rope back in with the other.