Author: Billy F

By Billy F In Day Trips

Gaping Gill – Stream Passage Pot


Billy, Sophie H, Paddy
The original plan for Saturday’s trip had been Juniper Gulf, but without the man and woman power required to lug 250m of rope up the hill, we decided Stream Passage Pot in Gaping Gill would be a better option. None of us had been down this way before, and it was a first Gaping Gill trip for Paddy. It was still a lot of kit to carry, and we were grateful to reach the entrance after a nice walk up the hill – we even spotted  a white grasshopper on the way.

A quick kit sort, some lunch and off we went. None of us were a huge fan of the mid-way squeeze on the first pitch, but after this things got big, dangly and great fun. A few swingy deviations and traverses later and we found ourselves at the bottom. The route described several waterfalls to pass here – today they were not much more than a trickle. Navigation went smoothly. We scrambled up muddy slabs and down various twists, turns and crawls to the main chamber. It was as spectacular as ever.  A quick flapjack and off we went back the way we came. I must admit, I struggled a bit with the bags on the way out – do bags ever not get stuck? A great trip and I hope to be back again soon. Thanks to Ray for being the call-out. Report written by Sophie H.

 

By Billy F In Uncategorised

Sell Gill Exchange

Billy, Sophie H, Tom, Maz, James and Paddy.

It was a beautiful evening in Horton in Ribblesdale and a delightful walk up the hill to Sell Gill, albeit through some extremely tall grasses. I had been trying to think of some trips me and Billy could lead together, and decided a Sell Gill exchange would work perfectly. With encouragement from James and Paddy, I rigged the dry route, shortly followed by Maz and Tom, whilst Billy headed off to rig Goblin. All went smoothly, and I even managed to beat Billy to the bottom and watched him glide down the final pitch.

We had thought about rigging the elusive pitch at the bottom, but decided to head out sooner and enjoy the sunshine whilst we could. One for another time. A quick switchover and James headed up Goblin, followed by me and then Paddy who kindly de-rigged. He wasnt too keen on the efficient packing. 2 bags next time. It was exceptionally dry and its a brilliant bit of cave. Billy, Maz and Tom went out via the dry.

Once out we had a lovely walk back down the hill, collecting sheeps wool and looking at owls and moths on the way. A lovely evening and really enjoyable trip.Written by Sophie H. 

By Billy F In Day Trips

Gaping Gill

One year after Sophie dragged me up to Gaping Gill at 6am to go down the winch, I return as a full convert to the underground! Sophie and I were so excited to go caving that we arrived 12 hours early, staying the night in Clapham in the van.

Ray, Sophie and I arrived at Gaping Gill at 10:30am on Winchmas-eve to find the place deserted. We eventually found signs of life in the beer tent, where Ray secured us a cup of tea on our return to the surface by a donation of high-quality biscuits.

We suited up and squeezed our way down into Flood Entrance. It was at this moment, Ray realised his kneepads were still in Clapham! You wouldn’t have known from his speedy crawling after the entrance pitch. We soon found ourselves swinging around clipping deviations on South East Pot. It really is huge, with a nice hanging rebelay and interesting rock carved out by water.

Armed with the route description, I led us away from the ledge through some cobbled crawls and stooping passages, finally getting to the main chamber. It was incredible. The best view in the Dales? Unfortunately we were too early in the week for the lights to be turned on, so you’ll have to make do with my poorly lit photos.

Ray took the lead on navigation, taking us to mud chamber and sand chamber, giving great ideas for future trips. Too wet for stream passage, we retraced our steps to South East, exiting via Bar Pot Big Pitch. The crawling continued, before tackling the greasy slab and small mammal pot. Daylight beckoned. We will be back thats for sure.

Recent free ascents of the famous Gee Gee Rider meant GG was at the top of the to-do-list, and it didn’t disappoint. We had been talking about getting down there constantly for the past few weeks and the day turned out to one of our favourite trips to date. Cheers for the trip Ray!