Bull Pot Rigging

Simon Wilson

Simon Wilson

New member
Last week I removed several loose anchors and placed two new ones on the entrance pitch of Bull Pot.

This provides a beautifully simple rigging using a 15m rope and one carabiner. It can be approached safely and there is a ledge which makes it a very easy take-off.

Bull%20Pot%20new%20entrance%20rigging_zpslejiwhq3.jpg


 
The deviation off the far wall was rather good fun.

That looks a nicely simple hang indeed, can you rethread the 2nd knot and use no metal bits?
 
Thankyou Simon,

Can I just check for clarity, is the approach from the stream side now removed? Or are both options still useable?

Thanks again
 
Nevermind bull pot, finish off Car already :). Am willing to lend a hand as always, but don't have any of the bolting gear.
 
The reason why there were so many anchors on the fourth pitch was that instead of removing loose anchors in the past, loose anchors had been augmented by having new anchors installed in-between. We removed the three loose anchors and installed one new one. The new one is one side of the Y hang at the end of the traverse. There are now two anchors fewer on the traverse.
 
Simon Wilson said:
The reason why there were so many anchors on the fourth pitch was that instead of removing loose anchors in the past, loose anchors had been augmented by having new anchors installed in-between. We removed the three loose anchors and installed one new one. The new one is one side of the Y hang at the end of the traverse. There are now two anchors fewer on the traverse.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: I was intrigued by the alternating new/old anchors when I was there last. Thanks for getting it sorted.
 
there is some rope rub and some way of stayin clipped in until safe distance from the edge might of been handy...

 
Ed said:
there is some rope rub and some way of stayin clipped in until safe distance from the edge might of been handy...
Click to expand...

Can't comment re rope rub (where exactly?) but there is a safe traverse from the natural on the R.  Ie, don't just use the two bolts.
 
There is no rope rub if it's rigged as shown in the photo above. You have to adjust the loop lengths to avoid possible rub but that's normal for Y hangs.

The decision to radically alter the rigging on this pitch was not taken lightly and it was only done after a deal of consultation. Four anchors had to be removed because they were loose. One of our guiding principals is to keep the number of anchors to an absolute minimum and this new rigging fits in with that.

When deciding where to place anchors there are many things to consider and balance against each other. In this case one consideration is that it is one of the most popular caves for leaders taking novices and for relatively new cavers leading themselves. The rope can be attached to the first anchor with two feet on firm ground and the second anchor is within a short reach.

I'm quite happy with the anchors as they are but we are always open to discussion, suggestions and constructive criticism.

Simon Wilson, CNCC Anchor Coordinator.
 
Simon Wilson said:
There is no rope rub if it's rigged as shown in the photo above. You have to adjust the loop lengths to avoid possible rub but that's normal for Y hangs.

The decision to radically alter the rigging on this pitch was not taken lightly and it was only done after a deal of consultation. Four anchors had to be removed because they were loose. One of our guiding principals is to keep the number of anchors to an absolute minimum and this new rigging fits in with that.

When deciding where to place anchors there are many things to consider and balance against each other. In this case one consideration is that it is one of the most popular caves for leaders taking novices and for relatively new cavers leading themselves. The rope can be attached to the first anchor with two feet on firm ground and the second anchor is within a short reach.

I'm quite happy with the anchors as they are but we are always open to discussion, suggestions and constructive criticism.

Simon Wilson, CNCC Anchor Coordinator.
Click to expand...

I would like to endorse what Simon says above.  I have never had problems with rope rub on this pitch, and when rigging for the less confident, I take a traverse line back to the bolts on the back wall. In my opinion, the new bolts are good, and a considerable improvement on the previous options.
 
The 1st pitch redirector was a great place for a photo and you had loads of time to take one as it could be a troublemaker!
 
langcliffe said:
I would like to endorse what Simon says above.  I have never had problems with rope rub on this pitch, and when rigging for the less confident, I take a traverse line back to the bolts on the back wall. In my opinion, the new bolts are good, and a considerable improvement on the previous options.
Click to expand...

The bolts on the back wall are no longer there...
 
JoW said:
The bolts on the back wall are no longer there...
Click to expand...

Thanks - I haven't been down since March, but I'm pretty sure that they were then. But as has been indicated elsewhere, there is always another way of skinning the proverbial.
 
First time for me down Bull Pot since the changes in bolts. I found getting on the rope OK, getting off it less OK. Getting off I lurched onto the ledge on the other side from the bolts and sat down.  In doing so my chest jammer rode a bit too high and I could only unweight it by putting my foot loop jammer on the opposite y hang and stand in it leaning over the void. I didn't fancy stepping over the hole when free and edged off the pitch head upstream unprotected. The other two in our group did step over the drop with cowstails.  A slip, wouldn't have been nice dropping onto a cowstail from above.
It's a clean hang as it is now, but I found the previous bolting and rigging from it easier, especially getting off the rope. Not a complaint just a bit of feedback from a first time user of the new bolts. Many thanks to you guys who put these bolts in the caves mind!
 
malcolm smith said:
First time for me down Bull Pot since the changes in bolts. I found getting on the rope OK, getting off it less OK. Getting off I lurched onto the ledge on the other side from the bolts and sat down.  In doing so my chest jammer rode a bit too high and I could only unweight it by putting my foot loop jammer on the opposite y hang and stand in it leaning over the void. I didn't fancy stepping over the hole when free and edged off the pitch head upstream unprotected. The other two in our group did step over the drop with cowstails.  A slip, wouldn't have been nice dropping onto a cowstail from above.
It's a clean hang as it is now, but I found the previous bolting and rigging from it easier, especially getting off the rope. Not a complaint just a bit of feedback from a first time user of the new bolts. Many thanks to you guys who put these bolts in the caves mind!
Click to expand...

We were down there yesterday, and in view of the discussion above, I had a closer look at the rigging of the entrance pitch. It is possible to add a traverse line before the Y-hang, looping the rope (or a sling) over a boulder to the right of Simon's photograph.

As far as getting off at the top was concerned, I clipped in to the Y-hang, removed the chest ascender, stood up high on my foot pantin, stepped onto the ledge on the Y-hang side of the drop and then stepped across. One of my companions didn't have a pantin, so clipped in to the Y-hang, removed his chest ascender, swung his legs over to the ledge by the Y-hang, and sat down on the other side. He then just removed his foot ascender. I suspect that your problem was simply that you didn't remove your chest ascender as soon as you had clipped in.

I far prefer the new rigging...


 
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