Large Pot & New Rift Pot

5th December 2012

Twitter.
jon_tompkins
5:53pm via TweetDeck

Caving attempt #1 Large Pot. Not large at all, in fact it's smaller than my chest on the second squeeze. Bailed out.

jon_tompkins5:55pm via TweetDeck

Caving attempt #2 New Rift Pot(Accurate description this time) Refuse to drop head first through squeeze. Bail out. Again.

jon_tompkins5:59pm via TweetDeck

Caving attempt #3. Shopping @inglesport - successful! Petzl Pro Traxion & Partner Pulley on @leepaskin advice + v.nice Alpdesign Junior bag

Says it all really. A completely unsuccessful caving trip but at least I'm not still there waiting for @CaveRescueOrg !

In Large Pot I got my chest stuck at the second squeeze. When a guidebook tells you it's tight and recommends that you enter feet first on your left handside you know it'll be tricky. Olly got through OK so next time I should just breath out and go for it.

In New Rift Pot I wasn't keen on dropping head first through the slot into the chamber. An attempt at going feet first saw my thigh start to get wedged. 

If there's ever a next time, a skinny caver either side should be able to provide some help if I get stuck! A week of dysentery before hand would also help.

There's a survey at cavesmap.org

4th January 2013


When Olly suggested caving on Friday I didn't think he'd suggest Large Pot again. When he did my brain said no but for some reason I actually said yes.

It didn't help that Dave Ramsey thought it was tight, it was in "Not For The Faint Hearted" twice and I'd read a report about the rescue of a stuck caver in OFD. Luckily both Olly and Henry were coming which meant that if I went second there would be a stick thin whippet either side of me to help with extraction.

After moaning about going to Large Pot on the drive up and on the walk in we finally arrived. At the bottom of the first pitch is the first challenge, relatively straight forward lying on your right hand side. Next is the awkward squeeze / bend / tube thing where I bailed last time. This time, following some advice from Dave, it went much smoother although it did take a few moments of lying down, composing myself. Lie on your left hand side, keep your legs high and keep your body out of the bottom of the passage. I left my harness on but took off some of my SRT kit to avoid snagging. After this you end up in a small chamber (more an enlarged part of the passage really) with enough room to look around.

By now Olly was at the bottom of the second pitch, the head of which was the main problem. There's enough room to put SRT kit back on although putting a harness on would be hard work. The rope hangs down the narrow part of the pitch. Olly said he'd gone straight down this so I decided to ignore Dave's advice, who is nearer to my size than Olly is, and follow him. Mistake. After mildly getting stuck I udged back up and some how arranged myself so that I could actually look down. This only confirmed what I already knew, everywhere was small.

I did see some useful foot holds further out and the gap I had to squeeze through, which unfortunately is not where the rope hangs. I tried the squeeze and probably could have made it but the thought of finding myself stuck on the other side was a bit too much. Turns out this is the way to go, maybe next time.

I left The Stick Men to carry on and after I heard Henry successfully at the bottom of the pitch I left, promising to come back nearer the call out time. Incredibly I didn't spend any money in Inglesport except for some food and Dave managed to refrain from any fat boy jokes. Just as amazing was Olly and Henrys' return at about 2:30, having turned round at the committing squeeze on the way to Colossus. That made me feel a bit better.