Post date: Dec 24, 2013 12:39:02 PM

Stevebus, Stevemuh, Al, Jim Warney, Conor (Rocky) and Brian McGavin

10 hours

The 23^rd of November saw another big team assembled yet again at Clancy’s to discuss plans for pushing Teampal Shetric. After several rounds of toast it was agreed that we would split into two groups. Myself, Stevemuh, Al and Jim Warney would go to the end of the series to push the aven (the former two) and to survey (the latter two) what was left from the previous trip, while Brian McGavin, Conor (Rocky) and Petie would look at digging at the end of the Seamus Heaney Hall.

The trip to the end of the cave was fairly uneventful, each of us were carrying heavy bags full of aven climbing and surveying gear together with enough food and water for a long trip. We assembled at the bottom of the mud aven to assess the climb ahead. During the last few years we have had a lot of success climbing avens and it has got to a stage where there is a bit of competition on who gets to lead the climb, sometimes I’m disappointed that it isn’t my turn, sometimes I’m glad it’s someone else’s. The climb was 10-12 m up a wide rift consisting of thick stratified bands of friable chert interspersed with thinly bedded limestone. To cap it all, everything was liberally coated in tick, glutinous, fine grained mud. This time I wished the lead climb was someone else’s.

Inspecting the climb from below, we spotted a band of limestone 40 cm thick, about 4 m below the top of the climb. Following this band horizontally away from the climb, it appeared it could be reached with a shorter 5 m climb (instead of 8 m), in a part of the rift where it may just be possible to bridge using some of the chert bands as footholds. This could potentially allow me to reduce the total height that I needed to ascend. It was not in anyway ideal but it was a starting point. I kitted up and pensively examined the chert that I would use to support myself. I pulled a few of the nodules out of the wall and broke a few other large pieces of chert with my hand. This was not ideal. Steve noticed my lack of confidence and uttered the Shannon Group’s exploration battle cry “If you won’t do it - I’ll do it” This short sentence, as uttered by any of the Steve’s, has encouraged many a nervous Shannon caver to push through their uneasiness.

I bridged up a couple of meters positioning my two feet on either wall. Steve stood below me and passed the drill up. There was a thin section of limestone above my head where I tentatively drilled a hole and placed a through bolt with a hanger and krab attached. I threaded my ‘lifeline’ through the krab and got Steve to take the tension. The next move was the crux, I shuffled my feet higher and thrutched past a pinch point until I could reach the thick band of limestone observed from the bottom. I drilled a hole and placed the second bolt, this time attaching two krabs in series to allow the lifeline to thread easily.

With the lifeline held in tension, I considered my next step. Bridging I traversed closer to the true climb and placed a third bolt allowing a safer position to evaluate the final 4 m of verticality. There was no more suitable rock to drill so instead I dug out footholds in the mud either side of the rift and made a committed climb. Fortunately the mudholds held and I reached the top. I placed my last bolt and Steve volunteered that he was happy to join me with the remaining gear so that a second bolt could be placed for future traffic.

Beyond the climb there was a second wet aven with a deep hole just below. The deep hole looked like it could be easily free climbed so Steve and I waited for the Al and Jim to join us as they had just finished their survey.

Steve lead down the climb for about 9 m and entered a large mud chamber which frustratingly must be very close to where I had just come from. This chamber ended in an unpromising dig. The large draft we had been following through the cave could not be located.

On exiting the mud chamber we met Petie and Brian coming in (Rocky had turned round at the bottom of Adrienne’s aven). Petie reported that their dig in Seamus Heaney’s hall was progressed but was still impassable. They passed us and continued down the climb to meet Al and Jim who were finishing the survey.

With our objectives met for the day we gathered up the gear and made our way out for another 10 hour long trip.

The exit was easy for some and not so easy for others. See separate report by Petie.

The Tempall Shetric 10-Step Beauty programme:

An intensive beauty programme developed by the Shannon Group's in-house cosmeticians, designed to bring a healthy brown glow to both you and your oversuit. After completing all the steps below you will look at least 37 years younger and your kit will be all soft and furry from the abrasion. If you are a beard owner you will benefit especially by placing your face in the mud as you crawl along.

1. The first layer of mud is applied in the Dry Crawl, a medium-grained mud with a soft tack. This is merely the base coat.

2. Beneath the Memory Stone Chamber a fine-grained mud in a water matrix is applied and worked into the chest and lower abdomen.

3. Advancing into SUMC rift the mud takes on a claggy quality and sticks primarily to the thighs and forearms. The fine grained mud previously applied makes this stick far better.

4. Just after No Lad Left Behind a second, more intense application of fine-grained water-matrix mud is worked into all surfaces.

5. A period of rest is advised beyond after this Step. Allow the mud to seep under your cuffs and down your neck. In time the mud will get into your ears and behind your eyelids.

6. Beyond Adrienne's Aven short courses of claggy and sticky mud add a further few kilos to your over suit.

7. Try and scratch an itch on your chin and inadvertently rub a fistful of potters-clay type mud into it.

8. Try and eat a chocolate bar and inadvertently eat a fistful of potters-clay type mud.

9. Exit the cave, repeating all the above steps in reverse order. Those wet muddy crawls will now be extra soupy with all those cavers having gone through already!

10. Reach the pitch chamber and remove the mud by standing under the waterfall for about 40 minutes or until hypothermia sets in.

Further Progress

The assumption is that the draft comes from higher up the wet aven suggesting that it would be the best bet for extending the cave further. Although the climb appeared technically easy, it does involve going past a few precariously placed boulders. The large black space above these boulders indicates that there are still exciting times to come.

Stevebus