Tag: West Kingsdale

Dave, James, Louie, Maz, Scott, Steve, Tom – Report by Steve

Loaded up with around 250M of rope, all the krabs from the hut and a few emergency maillons, we set off up the hill.

Ray’s sales pitch for the trip and other peoples previous recollections meant the Eyehole route was discounted fairly early on in the walk up to the entrance so we set off for the Big Gully route.

After the little rain we’d had, the entrance was rather noisy and we were surprised to find a bit of water around but not enough to put us off.

Managed the slippery first pitch down with a 50m to cross the water and crouch in the shelter of the overhang to keep out of the water running off the far wall. This was a good theory, but only served to allow the water running off the wall to go straight down the back of your neck.  The spray from the waterfall in front making sure your legs, arms and front were not left out resulting in a rather damp draughty start.

A swap of riggers took place as I was struggling to find the entrance pitch bolts without my contacts in!  Tom took us down into streamway across a long deep ish  puddle that was easy enough to avoid. The two small slings were just about right for the deviation.

In the confines of the rift we swapped riggers back again and proceeded towards the main shaft. With my limited views down the main shaft due to the darkness and lack of contact lenses I was not too concerned. Dave & Tom then started eroding my confidence by adding sound effects suggesting the view was not a bit daunting, however onward we went.

With more spray from the main waterfall to keep an eye on, good progress was made straight past the bolts for the re-belay traverse. A quick changeover and I was soon back up after a 10m detour. The traverse seemed to take ages with multiple rebelays most requiring adjusting to make sure the loop was long enough but eventually reached the bottom of the main shaft with Dave not far behind.

The way down at the bottom of this route looked dry & OK as opposed to plenty of spray on the opposite side if heading for the direct route. However, it was immaterial as an earlier decision was made in a moment of weakness to leave the final bag of ropes, so we had reached the end of our trip.

Over a boiled sweet and a quick look around we found that we were on our own, so began the ascent. It seemed to go very well, the rebelay working OK and Dave methodically de-rigging the whole lot, even the bag hauling didn’t seem too bad. We were soon in sight of the entrance pitches.

A swing on the rope across the long deepish streamway puddle, resulted in a wet arse which at this point was probably the only dry bit left.

Tom’s light shining down the final pitch was welcoming, as was the full team stood waiting at the top. Another round of boiled sweets or rock hard toffees and that was it, back to the cars.

Another good trip in my view, cold and wet enough for me to re-think doing Crystal next week (TBC) but not too cold to stop us having a good trip. A bit of something for everyone.

James, Steve

With enough rope to rig everything we set off into the bottom entrance to have a look, just because you can.

The rain of the afternoon / evening was not having much effect but there was a reasonable amount coming down the chapter house pitch.

A scramble up the slippery stream bed, soon found us at the top entrance. We’d decided to not do a pull through as it was forecast more rain and it had been a while since either of us had been in. Indeed the tree across the top that I last used to go down was obviously long gone.

The first pitch down with deviation was straightforward, so it was just a case of follow the water and there was enough of it to get a full soaking with either your chin or an ear in the water from the start.

A quick look up to the middle entrance we were soon into rigging the chapter house pitch. It seemed to take a while and neither of us warmed up in the process. The deviation provided a bit of frustrating excitement but the water was avoided.

By this time we were fairly cold so logically we decided to split up with Steve going back up the pitch and James walking round to rig down the middle entrance so we could both avoid the wet crawl in reverse. What could go wrong ?

Nothing as it happens, and with impeccable timing we met at the middle entrance and quickly exited. Whilst James was de-rigging the middle entrance Steve nipped down the top pitch to retrieve the krab off the deviation, do a change over and exit out of the top pitch. With more good timing we both met at the top finally warming up after a bit of exercise.

James birthday finished off in style on a wet night in Kingsdale. Wet but clean kit returned to the hut and that was it.

Dave, Ray, Tom, Maz, Yolanda

With Smelt Mill off the cards this week, the crew decided to have another (drier) go at Yordas, having been kept away from the traverse last time due to an awful lot of water. Things looked a lot more promising this time, with Long Gill not visible on the surface, and some sun in the sky.

Tom and Maz nipped into the bottom entrance to play with Tom’s new light bomb while Dave, Ray and Yolanda went straight to the middle entrance to get on with rigging the first pitch.

Having practised here in Feb, Dave quickly got the first and second pitches rigged, with Maz and Tom catching up at the bottom of the second. Was nice to not descend into a waterfall and pool this time.

Ray led on with the tackle for the Chapter House traverse and pitch and made short work of the surprisingly complex rigging. Tom rigged the waterfall pitch for those who didn’t fancy going the high road.

We followed Ray over the traverse and down into Yordas Cave, narrowly skirting the waterfall’s spray on the last couple of metres, with Maz abseiling the alternative route… straight into the fall… at least his oversuit and SRT kit got a good wash!

After a quick rest in Yordas Cave, Tom, Yolanda and Dave made a start on prussiking out with Dave de-rigging, Maz and Ray opting for the short way out. We all made it back out into daylight and back to the cars by 9:15, a short trip but plenty of SRT work and plenty to see.

A fantastic turnout of members new and old, to honour one of the club founders, David ‘Tom’ Holden. Great to see the Old Guard, and a lovely time was had by all.

The morning kicked off with tents and tables set up outside the entrance to Yordas, before active members headed up the hill for two trips – Darren leading from the Top Entrance, and John leading from the Middle Entrance. As trips finished and people congregated at the bottom entrance, food was conveniently ready, with fantastic home-made soup and cakes aplenty. 

President Fred and Vice Pres Andy both said a few words about Tom’s life and efforts at maintaining KCC; we looked through some folders of old photographs that Fred had brought along, and the KCC cake was cut jointly by the oldest and youngest cavers present. 

We then headed into Yordas together with sparklers for some photos and light writing. By this point we were well fed and entertained and ready to start making our ways to places warmer than Yordas, with some having been there about 5 hours.

Big thanks to all who attended, organised and made the day special. Here’s to Tom Holden!

Maz, Scott, Tom

What a damp evening. The initial plans for Aquamole were scrapped and we’d planned to visit Heron instead. However, on the walk up the rain set in really heavy and didn’t look like it was stopping so we decided to turn back and head to Yordas for a play instead. We headed in the middle entrance, Maz had a try of his new foot ascender on the short pitches then we headed to the traverse to rig and have a general SRT practise

Darren, Chris D, John, Miranda, James, Maz, Tom

Multi-route rigging, with the big hang, the pretty big hang and the Lateral Cleft all being rigged. The teams went their separate ways, and while Darren yo-yo’d up and down the big hang to practise for expedition, people made their way down and back up.

A bag was sent for a flying lesson down the hole in the floor of Lateral Cleft which may or may not still be down there…