BPK – rigging masterclass

Team: Will, Chris A

After achieving full member status with the club, Chris quickly set his sights on his next underground goals and asked me if I could introduce him to the world of rigging/de-rigging. Chris is clearly naturally talented on a rope, as he is also a competent rope access tech, so I knew we wouldn’t have to start totally from scratch and would get a lot covered in a single trip. To start with, Chris drove us to Gareth’s house to collect the tackle store key, before heading there to pack for BPK and show Chris the process of a) packing for a trip, and b) signing kit in and out of the store correctly – it seems he may not be the only person in need of this refresher after recent events!

Once loaded up we head over to Kingsdale and began our romp up the hill to the entrance. Chris was quickly put to work, rigging the entrance pitch and the second pitch using the slot and wide ‘Y’ hang variation. The third pitch has a couple of deviations that require a decent swing to grab, so as Chris hadn’t attempted anything like this yet I head on down first to give him a quick demo, before removing the stopper knot at the bottom of the pitch and getting Chris to pull the top back up through the deviations before his descent meaning he then had to swing for the deviations again. He clearly listened to what he was being told and like a pro he breezed down the pitch to join me. The baton back over to Chris, off he went to rig the final pitch, perhaps his biggest test of the trip given that he was now pretty tired, and faced a couple of tight traverses before the final ab. Without too much effort, we were soon at the sump trying to fathom the point of the final pitch given that it’s a lot of effort for nothing at all really!

After putting in a shift on Chris’s part, we decided to de-rig in turns on the way out to give him a little rest, and I took the last pitch and the bigger second pitch so he could work through de-rigging the deviations and not just tire himself out on tight traverses. It wasn’t long at all before we could see daylight once again and with all the kit hauled back up and out, we were on our way back to the car before heading back to the tackle store to carry out some post trip checks on equipment and sign it all back in. Today we looked at:

– Packing kit for trips, organising bags, understanding topo’s, emergency preparations.

– Personal kit related to rigging. What makes life easier, what doesn’t.

– Knot options and selection. When and when not to use particular knots. Equalised and offset ‘Y’ hangs, small and large. Traverse lines. Deviations. Traverse lines that work up or down and protecting a slide/fall.

– Personal placement, good ‘housekeeping’ skills (not creating a spaghetti junction, being aware of cowstails and rigging lines and not getting twists and overlaps)

– Mechanical advantage, being able to use the tools at your disposal to better your position or help you achieve the objective quicker, safer or more efficiently.

– Group focus, rigging for personal/mates and rigging for group trips with all abilities. Being aware of trouble areas where people might need more from the rigging to help overcome obstacles, and being able to identify ways to do so. Also having awareness of surroundings and passing on information, can others follow or do you need room to rig? Does the passageway require one caver passing at a time, etc.

– Swinging on a rope, the principles behind swinging SAFELY on a rope. What to check before swinging, how to swing, and what to do if things don’t go to plan.

– De-rigging principles, bag management, personal protection when de-rigging and making sure that you don’t de-rig yourself out of the system totally.

– General performance analysis, not gassing yourself out, passing the baton if/when tired, focus, delegation if required, caving targets and goals.

All in all a fantastic day out! Chris really impressed me with his ability to learn new skill sets and put them into practice. Not only this, but watching him rig  and de-rig it’s evident to see he’s already thinking about all the important things like placement, protection, movement, etc. Practice, practice, practice, that’s all Chris needs now and I really don’t think it’ll be long at all before we can add him to the list of club riggers. If you’re on a trip with Chris, make sure you put his new skills to the test and get him grafting!

Write up by Will, photos by Will and Chris