The Mysterious Pitch

Team: Lisa Boore, John Roe and Claire Vivian 

Trip Date: December 2020

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Like me, you will undoubtedly all have walked past this hole at some point when you've visited OFD2.

It is on the left between the mini traverses behind Big Chamber and the passages in to upper Arete Chamber, so really near the entrance to OFD2.

 

The pitch, just around the corner from Big Chamber 

With our evening trips we have been looking at going to areas in OFD none of us have been to before and connecting places via unusual routes. Having seen this pitch, but never been down it, this fitted the bill perfectly for the 3 of us. Being so near the entrance, it was also ideal for an evening trip and we were really lucky to choose mid-December mere days before the last Covid lockdown began.

John rigging the pitch

The rigging was 'reachy' and not straightforward, but John rigged speedily and we were soon down the first part and then on to the next 2 sections of it. The survey shows it as a P29, but there is also a P25 shown very near by and we were not sure if this was also on our route, so we had brought enough rope to cover both and some spare, just in case. It turned out there were 3 drops in all, so we were lucky to have enough rope with us. I should have written this blog months ago, as I've forgotten all the precise details; but I remember it was possible to rig the first 2 using the same rope as they were shorter pitches and close together.

Lisa at the top of the 2nd section.

The last section is a fine pitch, but there is a lot of loose rock at the pitch head to be careful of. The pitch brings you down in to the Labyrinth on the route you would take if you were travelling between Arete Chamber and the Columns. 

Claire abseiling down the final section in to the Labyrinth.

Skyhook and beyond

Team: Chloe Francis, Duncan Hornby, Tim lewingdon, Helen Stewart & Claire Vivian

Trip date: 25/1/20

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A few years ago Claire and I had the privilege of supporting a Freem filming trip beyond the sky hook at the top of Midnight Passage. It was quite an adventure and a part of the cave system I had certainly not visited before.

Last weekend a team of 5 got together to have a crack at the same route and hopefully lay down the foundation for future exploration in that part of the system. Helen, Tim and Claire had all passed through this section of the system on alternative routes but only Claire and I had been down the big pitch leading to Splash Inlet.

Claire, Chloe and I had to be back on the surface by 6pm as we were attending the Wealdon AGM Club Meal at the Abercrave Inn. With that in mind, Chloe, Claire and I packed the ropes the night before to save time in the morning.

On Saturday Helen arrived at 9:30am, we all did the obligatory tea/coffee/faff, shared out kit and were on our way to Top Entrance by 10:45.

Helen, Chloe, Tim, Claire and Duncan all looking sparkly, energetic and ready for adventure.

We powered our way through OFD II and arrived at the top of midnight passage collapsing in a sweaty heap ...Well Tim and I did! The ladies were of course barely out of breath! I really do need to get fitter!

Team having a short break at top Midnight Passage; Helen gets a power nap during the 1/40s exposure...clever party trick!

Whilst catching our breath I was told of some cool fossils just around the corner. I can’t believe I have never seen these, I must have walked passed them dozens of times.

In a small alcove where the team had stopped is a band of limestone with many impressive fossils.

The week before this trip I had been contacting various people to get a better understand of the rope lengths needed and top tips in rigging. The skyhook pitch has a loop of string that requires one to tie a rope off to it and pull up your rope, it was suggested a 40m rope would be enough, with length to spare.

Claire, Chloe and Tim waiting to ascend the Sky Hook.

Tim at top of sky hook.

Chloe stepping off the final traverse line at sky hook, Duncan in foreground.

Claire next to the curtains at top of Sky hook.

Helen prusiking up to sky hook.

On our way to what is identified as pitch “P20” on the map we passed many pretty crystal pools and in one place a fantastic curtain.

A close up of one of the many crystal pools that can be seen in the passages beyond the sky hook pitch.

Claire and a curtain, back lighting provided by Helen.

We finally arrived at pitch “P20”, we had a 55m rope and we backed up to a hole in the left wall, a small stal boss on the floor and this lead to a traverse line up to the two hangers in the left wall. I did a figure-8 off the final bolt for the main 20m hang. I don’t know if these hangers are “permanent” so it is probably prudent to bring a couple of hangers with you if you have any. Claire was the first to descend, no stopping her!

Duncan rigging “P20”.

At the bottom of the pitch is a very obvious “window” for the next pitch, which is marked as “P8” on the map. We had a 25m rope for this pitch and rigged off two boulders on the floor, 2 long slings were required.

There is a small hole off to the left as indicated by the arrow in the image below; you could go down that, and indeed Claire did, but I struggled to get through with my SRT kit on so the rest of us quickly abandoned that idea in favour of rigging the window. Be aware there are a couple of rub points (on both routes) so we used our tackle bags to try and stop this, would have been better to use proper rope protectors.

We went through the obvious window to descend the “P8” pitch. Arrow indicates the location of a small hole at floor level offering an alternative route down “P8” pitch.

Claire prusiking up small “P8” pitch. Arrow indicates where you would have popped out if you had crawled through the smaller hole.

We all excitedly descended and were ready to explore new territory...but then one of us looked at our watch. With some regret we had to turn around and start heading out as three of us needed to be back before 6pm.

Duncan looking a bit knackered after prusiking up”P20”

I personally felt we had achieved a lot, we had found our way to exactly where we wanted, whilst a strong team of experienced cavers it would probably be fair to say we did not have extensive knowledge in rigging. We have all done rigging but usually under the watchful eye of someone with lots of experience. So to be able to get ourselves down the pitches without any incidents was an important achievement!

Another lesson was just how much rope we needed, for P20 we brought 55m but 40m would have been fine even with our backing up to 2 naturals. The P8 pitch we brought 25m that could have been just 20m. So next time we will bring a 40m and 20m saving the weight of 15m of rope! In total we used 6 slings and 8 Krabs for rigging and rope protection. These stats do not include the skyhook pitch.

And finally I had forgotten just how tiring it is to carry a full SRT kit, ropes and rigging. I was knackered when we got out!

For the record we made it to the meal! :)

Trip Time: 6 hours

Banishing the end of summer blues

The summer expeditions might be over, but the club is still as busy as ever. We have evening trips starting back up, new Provisional Members who started caving at the June beginners' weekend coming back to SWCC to expand their caving skills, cave photography trips, visits to theme parks and plenty of socialising, including a curry at a local Indian restaurant. Time to join us and get involved!

An evening round-trip in OFD2 via Timo's Table

Steve and Paul at Top Entrance

This was closely followed by a first trip in to Cwm Dwr for new SWCC Provisional Members Lucy and Matthew. They found the trip challenging, but enjoyable. It was their first experience of a long crawl and a boulder choke. It is great to see our newer cavers returning for more trips. 

Steve, Lucy and Matthew ready to go

Lucy about to tackle the Cwm Dwr entrance

About to take on the notorious Cwm Dwr crawl

Matthew on his way out. Looks like he enjoyed the trip!

Muddied but happy

Barbara also had her first trip to the mini-columns this month and took her camera with her. She was highly impressed by the formations and took this great shot:

The Mini Columns  (Photo: Barbara Lane)

There have also been some fun socialising events as well, including a trip to Oakwood Theme Park on a gloriously sunny day. 

And a curry attended by around 10 local members. Perfect for new cavers to meet some more established members of the club and chat about potential trips.

Provisional Members'/ Beginners' Weekend

Just a quick write-up here as a more detailed report will appear in the Newsletter. The 3-4 June weekend saw 14 people either new to caving, or SWCC, come and visit the club and go underground with current club members.

Morning briefing before heading underground.

We had a variety of trips suitable for all abilities on offer. Some of the more advanced cavers who were new to the club, rather than caving itself, visited Dan yr Ogof and Northern Lights in OFD on Saturday. Others had their first experience of a cave and visited Trident and Judge, Swamp Creek and the mini-Columns, or OFD1. These trips took them underground for around 4 hours and taught them some valuable new skills, such as traversing and crawling. The smiles afterwards showed that they all enjoyed their trips!

John, Paul, Steve and Tim get ready to go to Northern Lights

2 beginner groups get ready to go underground

Matthew trying out a squeeze

Lucy at Swamp Creek

James on President's Leap

Lucy at the Mini-Columns

Following caving and hot showers we then sat outside enjoying the sunshine and chatting in the early evening until it was time to go out for a curry. There were 17 of us who ended up eating out, so it made for a pleasant and sociable evening.

Dave, Paul, Nigel, Alex and Matthew enjoying the sunshine.

Sunday looked like a completely different month. The sun of the day before was replaced by heavy drizzle. Nevertheless, we still had plenty of people keen to get underground and we were eager to oblige with most of us visiting OFD1.

Alex, Matthew and Lucy in Roundabout Chamber, OFD1

Alex on Bolt Traverse

Thank you to our leaders for the weekend: Bill Buxton, Andy Freem, Antonia Freem, Chris Grimmett, Bob Hall, James Hallihan, Phil Knight, Tim Lewingdon, Malcolm Lloyd, Sam Moore, Chris Taylor and John Wellbelove.

Welcome to new provisional members: Lucy Archer, Mia Berwick, Paul Conboy, Dave Coulson, David Eason, Keeley Gordon, Petra Hajnal, Laurence Howells, Matthew Jones, Nigel Jones, Alex Nahmad-Rohen, Alex, Oliver Rathmill and Steve Rush.

Provisional Members do their thing

In recent weeks we have had many enquiries from people who would either like to try caving for the first time, or established cavers who would like to join SWCC. As ever, we are keen to introduce people to caving and the club and show them around the spectacular underground world that we as a club all love to explore. This is a sport that is open to all ages and abilities.

The past 6 weeks have seen us introduce 5 new club members to caving on a variety of different trips within the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu system. It is incredibly satisfying to show people around, see how they react to the cave and then watch them progress from beginners to becoming experienced cavers in their own right. The smiles say it all. Once the caving bug bites, it stays with you! 

If you would like to come and join us then please do get in touch. We are a friendly bunch and always welcome new people who are interested in discovering what caving and SWCC can offer them.

Our next organised Provisional Members'/ beginners weekends are: 3-4 June and 4-5 November. Email Claire to join in: assistant_meets_sec@swcc.org.uk    We can also arrange trips outside of those dates, so if you are interested in caving, just get in contact. 

Paul, Adrian and Steve introduce Dave to SWCC and OFD

Jenny and Jamie enjoying their first visit to OFD1

Jamie in a bedding plane

Jenny traversing high above the streamway

Getting up close and personal with a stalagmite

A few weeks later we were also joined by Glenys, Tom and Ian who were introduced to Top Entrance (OFD2) and some very pretty formations.

Ian, Tom and Glenys raring to go.

Tom at the Wedding Cake

Ian sampling a crawl

Tom in Swamp Creek

Glenys having fun learning to traverse

All of our new members then joined a number of our local members at a curry night. There were 20 cavers at the meal, so they all had plenty of chances to meet people and make more caving plans.