Tag: Alum Pot

Long Churns & Alum Pot (report and pictures by Will)

Team: Ami, Chris A, Scott & Will

We’d been planning this Alum Pot trip for a few weeks now as Ami had yet to tick it off and sadly she missed out last time when John, Dave and I tackled the NW route. Chris was also eager to get his second trip with KCC bagged so eagerly opted in whatever the trip. Scott was also on board when he heard of our plans, no surprise there, and we hoped that Sophie may be able to join us too but sadly it wasn’t to be. Despite us both having taken on Rift Pot the day prior, Scott and I were still feeling good in the morning and although some unfortunate Sunday morning issues caused a little lateness, the four of us arrived at Selside in good spirits. As with most weekends, it quickly got busy with a couple of other groups gearing up all eagerly eyeballing each other to see who would begin negotiations. One group with some SRT novices were planning a trip down Dolly Tubs, another heading for the SE route, and as at this point we were still awaiting Scott’s arrival we told them all to go ahead and we’d work our way around once we had a plan. I already had a plan! It was a little naughty, but I packed my ‘big rope’ (John & Dave know it well) with a hope to hoodwink the others into the NW route as it’s by far my favourite. From my experience, if you don’t tell people what they’re doing and just send them a location they usually turn up. The second you mention a 65/70 metre pitch with maximum exposure, people start to sleep in or feel poorly! Given the other teams chosen destinations it would have been ideal to go for the NW route on this occasion, being the only route with no traffic for the full day. However, my sneaky secret didn’t go down to well when I proposed it, and I’m certainly not one to push so we quickly repacked and came up with a new tactic. I’d rig Dolly Tubs because I’m lazy and would rather take pictures, Ami would rig the traverse and bridge, Scott would rig his ‘under the bridge’ variation, and finally Chris would have his first attempt at rigging and de-rigging on the final pitch. Plan set, and to give the other teams a bit of space, we stashed the ropes and headed for the top entrance of Long Churns to give Ami and Chris the full tour.

After working our way through Churns and feeling nicely warmed up, we picked up our ropes and set about the days main task. The other teams had rigged the split pitch in Dolly Tubs, so we went for the traditional ab and it wasn’t long before we were all stood in the window taking everything in. It was evident that, even with our Long Churns trip, there would be no avoiding traffic sadly – but such is the case if you choose Alum on a weekend! Let’s be honest, where else would you rather be stood for a short period awaiting your turn to descend than the window of Alum Pot. From here on, no matter what way we went, it would be impossible not to share anchors with other teams. A few weeks ago, Ami had a really good day of rigging in Aquamole (no sarcasm at all, she rigged top to bottom through a variety of the usual anchors) but had she paid attention to the location of Rupert’s in-situ ropes, Ray would also have had a good day of de-rigging instead of trying to untangle spaghetti junction! With that in mind, Scott and I set Ami straight to work rigging with a few reminders along the way. We discussed a few different things and ways to do things better, safer, or more efficient and I think it’s fair to say we all came away having learnt something! Winner! Absolutely nailed it she did, rigged behind the other team’s ropes all the way even in awkward places. After negotiating around another ascending team along the traverse, we had a clear shot at the bridge and then Scott took over to lead us underneath to the 40m ish free hanging option there. Another team was ascending on the other side of the bridge at the same time, so luckily when we touched down we had the last pitch and the sump all to ourselves. Chris was up next for his first attempt at rigging and he eagerly got to work. John showed Dave and I the traverse along the left to another Y hang (not on the topo) which I now prefer as it keeps you further away from the water for the last abseil. Also, if you do the NW route with a 100m rope you can get straight onto this variation and make one extra big pitch from the top to the bottom. It also has a little bit more rigging involved, perfect for Chris. I followed him along the ledge ready to answer any questions he had, but he took to it like a natural – clearly his IRATA skills are giving him confidence on the rope and kicking his caving career off with the ability to tackle some epic trips. We pushed on to the sump for the obligatory sump photo before heading back to ascend out, de-rigging the pitches we rigged on the way in. Ideal for me, as I could head up first and get some good shots of the others coming up now we had the place to ourselves.

In no time at all we were back on the surface heading for the cars, discussing the days events and recapping what we’d learned. Thank you to the guys for joining me on this one, we shall be back here soon with more members and more ropes for the AGM, so make sure you join us if you’re not already planning to!

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!

Claire, Dave, Ray, Scott, Vicky:

My first lead after a suggestion wanting to save myself paying for a day trip with work, first Saturday trip and also the first one setting off and coming out in sunshine, busy day!

With a plan of attack set, discussed over a breakfast and a brew at Inglesport cafe, we set off towards Selside in glorious sunshine. Scott and Ray collectively having enough rope to rig everything possible as least once.

We opted to go in via Long Churn bottom entrance and take the Dolly Tubs alternative descent. Apparently this was also the intention of the YSS members who turned up just as we were setting off, leading to a race to the entrance, quite how they caught us i’ll never know but we got in first! Scott lead the way and got the first pitches rigged up.

Here our riggers swapped with Claire taking the rope bag for the Greasy Slab (maybe, opinion was divided about which side was which) and across to the Bridge before dropping us down to the bottom ready for the last wet abseil into the sump. The waterfall from Diccan Pot was in full flow with the sump foaming with all the feed coming in.

Pretty safe to say this was a soaking wet trip, with water coming at us from all angles, so we made out way back out via Dolly Tubs with Dave giving the Cheese Press an obligatory visit with some words of encouragement from Ray. We detoured on the way out and emerged back into sunshine from Long Churn middle entrance, swiftly marching downhill with the taste of a well earned pint at the Station already in our minds.