Post date: Jul 25, 2017 7:13:21 AM

Team: Petie, Shane Diffily, Adam Prior

Time: 30 hours

A combined Berger training trip and surveying extravaganza, hopefully scratching off Ten Years Hard Labour, and Bat Chamber. We entered the cave at 11:30 and reached the end of the cave around eight via a pitstop at Camp Camp. After the last trips failure to find the crawl I’d expressed doubt that the passage existed at all, but was assured that it was there alright, just a matter of finding it. Once again it couldn’t be found despite another sweep of the passage. About 10m back from the terminal collapse there was a very low crawl that I tried to squeeze into, helmet off. I was close to squeezing past the initial constriction, but didn’t think it was 10YHL since it was only about 20m back from the sump. It was also apparent that Shane and Adam wouldn’t be joining me on the far side anyway. A few more sweeps of the passage and nothing was apparent and I was simply repeating the same search from two months previously.

Back up the passage we went to try and locate Bat Chamber. I didn’t know exactly where Bat Chamber was, but I though it was up the steep climb up a mud slope about 50m beyond The Dodo. However just above the handline climb out of Pinball Alley I spotted a large chamber up to the right, and followed some footsteps up a boulder slope into a big chamber, 12m high. I later found out that this was indeed Bat Chamber. We cracked out the survey kit and got to work. There was actually two chambers here, separated by a huge wall of mud and boulders, and linked over the top. One end headed upstream and the other downstream. Since we were in the upstream end it seemed best to survey it to the bitter end and see where it went. The way on was up a dodgy-looking boulder staircase. The first two metres up against a Fiat 500-sized boulder was the crux, and I managed to find some purchase and climb up. And on top it was virgin! From there a steep clamber brought me all the way up to the top, where a broad, rock-strewn walking passage led for about 15m to an impressive 20m drop to roar of the stream. This was interesting because this appears to be the missing section of streamway after the stream vanishes into boulders and you go into the dry bypass that takes you to Pinball Alley.

I went back towards the lads and asked Adam if he’d like to join me with the DistoX. He looked at the climb and politely declined. Just pass me the DistoX and I’ll shoot the leg to the pitch I said. I made my way down to him and I began to regret my decision to climb up. Adam started pointing out what the Fiat 500-sized boulder was supported by (a rock seemingly not much bigger than a kettle) and I asked him to stop talking because he was making me nervous. To get down to him I had to pass a teetering rock which I decided would have to go. I asked Adam to stand back and I gave it a nudge. Then everything collapsed.

The actual drop was probably no more than 3m, but there was a sensation of falling a long distance. Behind me a mini-skip’s worth of boulders and assorted cave-rubble had been released, all of which came crashing down over my head and shoulders. It felt as if I was being buried to a very great depth. To my surprise, once everything stopped moving, I was merely buried waist deep in boulders. A quick flex of my arms to see that they worked, and then I started pulling boulders off my legs as quick as I could. I freed myself, picked up a smashed light, and ran away to the far side of the chamber. Shane put his ICRO REC2 skills to use by checking me out. I had a gash to my chin, and badly bruised arms and shoulders. Amazingly, given the pummelling I had taken, nothing seemed to be broken. My chin was patched up with some gauze and tape and off we went back to camp. I was sore, but pretty mobile.

I got more gauze taped to my face at camp and we went to bed for the night. Thankfully, the journey out the next day wasn’t the ordeal I expected it to be. I was pretty sore but with some help from Shane and Adam we moved pretty swiftly out of the cave, reaching the surface a respectable 6.5 hours after leaving camp.

In Blacklion we dropped off the Distox at Les’s, and went to Al and Magda's to cancel the callout and have my chin-wound swabbed. Then it was off to the hospital in Enniskillen for more wound-swabbing and X-rays. No breaks discovered, just a lot of scapes and bruising. After a final tetanus jab and a present of some codine I was sent on my way.

Despite the horrifying boulder immersion and the injuries sustained from it, this was actually a fairly fun trip, and the most disappointing part of it (for me anyway) was the fact that we basically got no surveying done. There was also the frustrating non-appearance of 10YHL. Another curious bit was the new passage I climbed into - it was pretty exciting to find a big drop into the missing section of streamway, but I don’t have much interest in going back there. I couldn't see any footprints here - and it's understandable why it wasn't pushed in the first place.

Finally I'd like to thank the staff of the Camp Camp General Hospital for their expert medical care and delicious curry-flavoured porridge.

- Petie