Post date: Nov 17, 2012 7:52:18 PM

Cavers: SteveBus, Al

Trip time: 6.5 hours

After the usual slow morning start we made it into the cave by 2.45pm, Bus slightly compressed in Aileen's oversuit. It was a pretty manky, drizzly morning and after a wet enough week we expected Deep Pot to be pretty wet. It was even more wetter than when we first dropped it in September, with a large waterfall entering at the side of the main entrance. The rigging was quickly done, Steve rigging the drier route down the second waterfall, and then using the rope from the little calcite column as the approach through the Window. The plan was to push and survey the two leads at the very bottom, beyond Snakes-And-Ladders.

The dodgy boulder that Éabha and i turned back at isn't so dodgy at all. Over the top of it and down another small slot and past a slightly more dodgy boulder enters a spacious bedding plane chamber, then another squeeze down reaches a larger rift passage. Some water appears here, probably the small trickle that enters Snakes-And-Ladders. The passage divides, one branch going up into a chamber filled with a dry mud bank, the other following the trickle down to a pot and then a tight crawl. The pot however was backed up to the brim, with eddy currents swirling on the surface (possibly indicating water flowing through the pot lower down). Bus reckoned it had backed up 6m or so from the deepest point he and Aileen had reached in October. Not a great sign for prospects in this lead but it still remains to be pushed in dry weather.

And so to the second lead, for which we had dragged in all the scaff and clips and a piece of rope. This was climb up the far end of the mud bank chamber, only about 4 m high but muddy, overhanging and with a drop off below into a muddy pot. The scaff bars were bolted into a semblance of a ladder, although the second 90 degree clip wouldn't close, so we ended up with one cross-piece and a sort of bipedal arrangement at the bottom. After posing for some pictures Bus attempted the first ascent, and after rearranging the cross-piece made it to the top. The sounds he made weren't that inspiring, however we decided to give it a bash as we probably wouldn't come back. After a bit of digging Bus started making more positive noises, and we also could hear a faint sound of running water (as well as a strange sound from Bus' lamp) from beyond the dig. It got too tight for Bus, so i threw up the rope for him to tie to himself and i pulled myself up. After a close changeover i took my turn at the front, squeezing past mud-jammed boulders on the right. The passage beyond looked decent although requiring some one-armed digging but progress was difficult so i turned my attention to the boulders on the right, and after a bit of mud removal swapped position again with Steve. He again attacked beyond the squeeze, removed one awkward boulder, but it was still too difficult to turn into the wider bit which went up to the right, however a decent looking void could be seen beyond. Again he started on the constricting boulders, and again we swapped. The noise of water was getting louder beyond the dig, so i belayed the handline while Bus went to look at the sump, but there was no change. He passed up the bigger crowbar and i continued working on the boulders, eventually prising a couple of large ones out of their muddy matrix, but the main blockers wouldn't budge and one was jammed against the ceiling. However the noise of water and a draught kept increasing. We reckoned afterwards that this indicated a sump drained and broached beyond the dig, possibly a positive sign. Steve took another turn, but we were getting tired and cold lying on the mud and so after 4 hours digging we called time and headed out for dinner, having made a 3 or 4 m horizontal extension. But it's a good lead and definitely worth a return trip. The Greasy Pole™ and rope remain in the mud chamber (not yet named).

To wash off Bus climbed the 10 m Phantom Aven waterfall, but it emerges only from a small hole at the top. The source of this water remains puzzling, but i think it may come from the mainstream below the 3rd Waterfall Pitch. The water that appears at the bottom of the Window Pitch comes from the head of the 3rd Waterfall Pitch, via a 3rd shaft which is visible from the Window Pitch. The water in the cave as we headed out was considerably less than when we entered, confirming our theory of the draining sump in the depths of the cave. We reckon that somewhere below is a main drain from series 2 if not also series one. The rifts may also be running again E-W although we didn't do any surveying in the end.

Al

Some photos of Steve's first ascent of the Greasy Pole™...