Alum Pot – Northwest Route

Dave, John, Will (Report by Will)

Ami proposed a trip in Alum Pot to the sump and back as she’s yet to do it. I too haven’t been all the way to the bottom yet, so didn’t need much convincing! We settled on a Monday afternoon and then invited any other available club members to join us. We didn’t have a solid plan, but it was quickly evident that the majority vote was for the North West route, the largest possible abseil into Alum Pot. With that decided, we got a team together being Ami, Dave, John and myself.

The day before this trip, we also had a trip to Curtain Pot which was a rather long one at 8 ish hours. The weather for this was dramatically colder than the last few weeks and we exited the cave to solid covering of snow, needless to say by Monday morning there were a few sniffles and coughs about. Ami opted out, and I have to admit after only 2 and a half hours sleep I too was feeling like a day indoors would be nice! However, Dave and John were relying on me to bring the ropes and so I couldn’t let them down.

Off we went as a trio, spirits high and rope bags heavy. Our chirpiness soon quietened as we arrived and climbed over the stone wall to what would now be the start of our adventure. John was the only one to have previously done this route, and so he offered to rig for us, and neither Dave or I argued as we stood on the edge of some 65-70 metre straight drop. Whilst John made use of the trees to aid him to the first re-belay, I took the opportunity to get some pictures with the drone, with mixed results! Had I known then how good the GoPro and phone footage would come out, I wouldn’t have bothered with the drone, but it adds an extra perspective.

It wasn’t long before the first shout of “rope free” was heard from John, and Dave gave me the nod to say he was ready to take on this beast! Again, John worked his way competently through the second re-belay, this time onto the “big ab” 60-65m of pure open air descent surrounded by waterfalls and incredible scenery. Dave followed on and then that was it, my turn, I couldn’t tap out now because they were too far away to shout to let them know!

Once through the re-belays and onto the big ab, it’s hard not to get caught up in the moment, we also got to experience some other cavers watching on from ‘The Window’ viewpoint at the bottom of the Dolly Tubs pitch, which is probably about a third of the way down the big ab. With them as reference, you could really put into perspective the gargantuan hole your in and you certainly feel the exposure. The bottom half of the pitch was a little wet but didn’t deter spirits as we all shared a moment following what is probably one of the best abseils in the Yorkshire Dales. John lead on down the final pitch, opting for an alternative to the topo along the opposite wall which consisted of a short climb up to a ledge for a traverse to the pitch head.

This way certainly kept you dry and avoided the waterfall that was yet to plague us on the way back up the big pitch. A specific rigging stance was required for this last pitch as John couldn’t quite work out if he was happier in the awkward crouch or using the traverse line to stand up and out over the drop. In no time at all John had everything rigged and was at the bottom of the pitch, Dave swiftly followed, and I’d opted to pass and get stuck into the climb back up the main pitch.

The topo suggests an 80 metre rope for the North West Route but I don’t own one so brought a 100 metre instead, which meant standing on the flop for a good minute or two pulling in the stretch from the climb above. By the time I was finally off the ground, I was absolutely soaked from head to toe, and couldn’t seem to get out of the waterfall. Where was this on the way down?! I don’t remember getting this wet! Every step up felt like it had an equally distanced bounce back down and it felt as though I’d never get through the water. As I was coming up on the bridge probably just over half way, I was out of the wet section and back into the incredible free hanging open space. The rest of the climb was actually rather enjoyable at a steady pace taking everything in.

When I got to the first re-belay I could see the distant glow of Dave and John’s head torches below, indicating their return from the sump and readiness to resurface. John certainly put my efforts to shame and absolutely flew up the rope behind me. I noticed he’d also had time to don his hood and he too got absolutely soaked by the same waterfall. Lastly came Dave, also pretty hastily, soaked and complaining of the same waterfall! A quick stop to catch our breaths, remove SRT kits, bag ropes and we were on our way back to the car.

A fine afternoon by all accounts, and one that we will definitely be revisiting in the near future given Ami’s absence. Maybe next time Dave will remember to put the pitch GoPro in place also! If we get a few more takers, we could possibly rig a Dolly Tubs exchange too, and avoid the climb back up North West, although it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be at all!