Aquamole

Scott, Ray, James, Will and (Report by) Ami

Ray, true to form, decided I needed some rigging practice (he’s not wrong) so listed me leading Aquamole, where I had never been. We had all seen the excellent film about ex-KCCer Geoff Yeadon though, so I was excited.

Keen to get out the chilly wind we set off, with a warning that the pitches were permanently rigged. While helpful for navigating, this other rope meant I managed to tangle myself in almost all of the 384 re-belays on the first pitch.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself rigging such a varied 80m, with lots of slots and squeezes and surprises along the way. We were soon all down and commencing a 5 minute wet crawl, before finding the short second pitch. At the start of the third we split, as Ray had also bought gear for the One-Armed Bandit route.

I was really impressed with the final 60m pitch. There were a few pesky deviations early on, but as the cave was so dry I opted to ignore the third and just enjoy the view – a splendid cavern with a huge bulge in the centre that made you feel very tiny.

We soon met at the bottom and checked out the sump, complete with several fish.  Since I forgot the snacks (I’m not sure Will has forgiven me) we began our mini exchange, but with only Ray being brave enough to opt for ascending the 60m. The rest of us took One-Armed Bandit, which involved two pitches (decent length for an exchange) with a slightly precarious climb over a rather deep fissure in between.

At the top there were two options to rejoin Ray, one of which was a very small, but very short, squeeze. I’m always tempted to see if I’ll fit, which I did. Scott was lured through after me, but poor James, after an admirable amount of pushing, found his shoulders were just a bit too wide and had to go round. This turned out to be rather convenient as he could finish de-rigging the 60m pitch.

Will and Scott went ahead as they were a bit tight on time, and Ray came last de-rigging. We seemed good for time until the final 80m rope. It turns out, having another rope rigged is a pain on the way up too, and poor Ray found himself repeatedly tangled, meaning James, Ray and I didn’t emerge until two hours after Will and Scott were driving off. I’ve learned some new four letter words today.

Absolutely splendid cave nonetheless. It’s gone in the book of favourites. Thank you all!