Berger rigging advice please

[Ian P]

Hi all

We are just starting to think about a rigging plan for our Berger trip.

An idea of how long it would take a rigging team of 5 competent cavers to rig to camp 1 would be really appreciated.

Any other rigging advice, tips etc again gratefully received.   

Thanks

Ian

[Leclused]

A complete planning (in Dutch) can be found here

www.spekul.be/explorations/other/Berger.pdf

It was made by Grotto Spekul (univerity of Leuven). Pages 5-8 give you an idea.

[David Rose]

A competent team of five should be able to rig to camp 1 in a day, without too much trouble. Best send in two to rig halfway down the entrance series, then another group three or four hours later to catch up the others and continue. 

[Ian P]

Bag carrying

Some more advice from the UKC collective if possible.

With regards to bag carrying (mainly down to camp 1)

Is it a case of
1 person 1 bag
1 person 2 bags (or 3  )
Or moving a larger number of bags passing along / ferrying back and forwards between pitches etc.

Thanks in anticipation
Ian

[David Rose]

Erm... it depends how many people there are, how many bags, and how big they are!

[Ian P]

Erm... it depends how many people there are, how many bags, and how big they are!

Hi David
Understand those points, we are just looking at how many people we need for each section.
Realistically How many “normal” (60-70m 9mm rope) can 1 person manage in the entrance series. Or can bags be  “shuttled” between pitches.
Cheers

[David Rose]

There isn't a huge amount of horizontal passage in the entrance series. Just the meanders, which are pretty easy. I carried two bags through at one go last year on a rigging trip and it was fine. They weren't huge bags. Probably about the size you mention. More of a slog once you get to the bottom of Aldo's and the Starless River - easy caving as far as Camp 1, but quite a long way. You don't want more than one bag each below Camp 1 if you can avoid it, especially in the Couffinades and the Canyons (the hardest part of the trip).

[skippy]

Thanks for the above Dave,

The Buttered Badgers(Mark Wright et all) have kindly lend us their bags, Petzl Classics, so they aint huge bags.
Any advice will be greatly received.

Cheers,
G

[David Rose]

Well they were the exact same bags we were using! Mark organised the trip. And very smooth it was, too.The weather was excellent and very dry, which of course helped enormously. Never forget that in wet conditions or in flood, the Berger swiftly turns deadly.