161 - Endless (rift and trip)
Peter Swain
Zoomed down to the pitch at the end of Endless (alright, contradiction). Did some cold waiting while Damage did some slick rigging. Descended first pitch and found small phreatic both to hide in and explore. Just really hid in it. Second pitch was again impressively riggid by Dave and ended in large chamber with 2 ways on.
Matt had first epic on rebelay. Managed to have 5 pts. of contact. Took along time to decrease it to two. He arrived at the bottom of the pitch, panting and horizontal!
Anyway, straight ahead is a sandy passage which ends in an inlet. The floor shows obvious signs of water. The other way is down a small climb to a spot of rifty passage. This ends in a tight crawl in water and mud. Both Damage and Matt went down and found a small chamber which it was too difficult to enter. This is where Matt had his second epic. He got quite badly trapped and had to do some vigorous thrashing. Couldn't face surveying and started out.
In Endless Matt had his third epic. Yawn! Slipped and fell 6', twisting his ankle. This forced us to a very, very, very slow pace. Came up through Dreamtime. Damage went ahead to contact top camp and Matt and I plodded on. Matt eventually emerged 5 mins before 10am call out. Long, long trip.