Lost Johns, Monastery-Dome exchange (nearly)

John, Steve, Maz, James, Paddy, Dougle Dave, Klaudia (3rd KCC trip), Ray

We were all looking forward to the planned Monastery-Dome exchange… right up until a cloudburst a few hours before the trip. The Monastery half of the trip didn’t seem quite so appealing after that. But we still had a Dome-Centipede exchange as a fallback, so decided to still head up onto Leck Fell and just see what water levels were like. They were high! But not so high that we couldn’t get in. After some debate, we decided that we could safely get as far as the New Roof Traverse and (more than likely) get back out, even if water levels rose slightly. Dome-Centipede was on! Conveniently, the first 2 pitches of Monastery require almost exactly the same tackle as all the Centipede pitches down to Dome Junction, so all we had to do was leave the 2nd Monastery bag in the car and dump the final rope for the Sink Chamber pitch on Dome route. Simples.

The entrance passage was sporting, but at least we were going downstream… on the way in at least. It was a welcome relief to climb out of the water onto the New Roof Traverse. It was also very clear that Monastery wasn’t an option. At the first hole, we went our separate ways. John, Klaudia, Steve & James set off for Centipede with John rigging. Dave started rigging Dome, followed by Paddy and Maz (against Maz’s own better judgement), with me bringing up the rear. Dave made quick work of Vestry & Cathedral pitches, then Paddy took over rigging duties for Dome and the final Dome Junction pitch.

We had some fun and games on Dome Pitch with the rope not being quite long enough. I’ve come across the same issue in other caves recently. I think the basic problem is that rigging styles have changed. The newer rigging style seems to use more rope and typically involves an extra loop. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this. Is it safer or more convenient in some way? I don’t know. But it does use more rope. In most cases this isn’t a problem as the rope lengths quoted on CNCC rigging topos are typically rounded up. But, in some cases, it does lead to issues and Dome pitch is one of those cases. So Paddy and Dave found themselves trapped in the window unable to get down the next drop. I believe Paddy used some old shoelaces (or something along those lines) to get down, but that clearly wasn’t going to please everyone. So we did some quick shuffling at the pitch head for me to pass Maz, then I could quickly replace the new style rigging with my very traditional style and free up a couple of metres of rope. Job done and we were on our way again.

By the time Maz and I had swung through the window and down the final short drop, Paddy and Dave were already down the final pitch and, in fact, John was up it on his way out. I suspect the other party had been waiting for a while – just because Centipede is much faster to rig and descend – but they seemed cheerful enough.

Wasting no time, we all set off out, keen to get the entrance passage over with before the water rose much higher. Everyone did the exchange. Dave derigged Centipede, while James & Steve derigged Dome. The journey out went smoothly enough. Maz was making some very strange noises on Centipede pitch and it looked at one point like his lunch may be making a 2nd appearance, but thankfully that didn’t happen.

Dave and I passed the top pitch of Dome just as Klaudia was popping out, so the 3 of us, and John, who had been waiting round the corner, made our way out together. The sound of the water was rather worrying at this point, but it sounded worse than it was. I suspect the level had risen a bit while we were underground, but not enough to be a danger in any way. Still, Klaudia seemed determined not to go anywhere near the water. I’d give her 10/10 for determination to carry on traversing, long after the roof traverse had actually finished. It was all to no avail, of course, as there’s no avoiding the water eventually.

On reaching the surface, I was most surprised to see Paddy & Maz stood there waiting for us. I expected them to be back at the cars, wearing nice dry clothes. There was some debate about whether we should all wait for Steve & James to finish derigging Dome. It was a very short debate. Steve & James did show up eventually, but by that time we were all nice and toasty. Cheers for derigging guys!

This was Klaudia’s 3rd KCC trip, so she is now eligible for full membership, should she choose to apply for it. I don’t think there will be much opposition. She will be a great addition.

As a postscript, poor Dave suffered a punctured tyre on the way back down Leck Fell Lane. Some of those potholes are definitely getting worse, so let’s be careful people.