107 - boulders were smaller
Sat 05 Aug 1978
Mike Shearme
Admittedly our boulders were smaller, but they'd still kill you. We had this large rock jammed in the hole we wanted to go down, so we used the system rigged up yesterday and pulled and pulled but it didn't move much. Then Mike had a good idea and eliminated the friction on the pulling rope. With a quick pull we had it suspended above the hole, held only by a peg pulling in the direction most likely to pull it out. Then it was chocked up and the pulleys rearranged so as to pull it out. The rock was put on the ledge by the pitch where it trembled a bit, but was held by the rope so we felt we could go down the pitch. Unfortunately, we found a spreader, a long enough rope and rigged the pitch. Ben was selected to go down. Going through the hole, which is a bit small, it opens out into a superb enormous shaft, about 20' in diameter, 55' deep. At the bottom, lots of different passages lead off, one which is pretty big and horizontal. There's also a good rift which still carries the draught. Its pretty fucking marvellous down there. Mike came down after Ben had come back up. Ben.
Previous dig/ Next trip
Mike Shearme
id1978-107-3
Admittedly our boulders were smaller, but they'd still kill you. We had this large rock jammed in the hole we wanted to go down, so we used the system rigged up yesterday and pulled and pulled but it didn't move much. Then Mike had a good idea and eliminated the friction on the pulling rope. With a quick pull we had it suspended above the hole, held only by a peg pulling in the direction most likely to pull it out. Then it was chocked up and the pulleys rearranged so as to pull it out. The rock was put on the ledge by the pitch where it trembled a bit, but was held by the rope so we felt we could go down the pitch. Unfortunately, we found a spreader, a long enough rope and rigged the pitch. Ben was selected to go down. Going through the hole, which is a bit small, it opens out into a superb enormous shaft, about 20' in diameter, 55' deep. At the bottom, lots of different passages lead off, one which is pretty big and horizontal. There's also a good rift which still carries the draught. Its pretty fucking marvellous down there. Mike came down after Ben had come back up. Ben.
Previous dig/ Next trip