Room with a View Cave ~300m surveyed
Pete Talling
An unholy trinity of a team was carefully assembled for this daring mission, fuelled by tea, oatso and currys (phaart). We bumbled down the (now safer) entrance pitches to the junction at the base of climb up to Leeds Bypass / end of Pete's traverse rope.
A We started with the sandy phreatic tube on the left that was a strongly drafting A lead. This carried on for a short but very drafty phreatic stomping to a big pitch with 8-10 second rattle. VERY GOOD A LEAD - WITH A LEAD ACROSS TRAVERSE AT THE SAME HEIGHT. CONSOLIDATION PITCH
B We then went back to a small side lead that involved a short u-tube and up into walking passage that went to the far side of Gardener's Question Time (Chris' Pitch), across which we shot a leg to his top bolt.
C We then backtracked to a side lead that looped back to the far side of the traverse just beyond the station 9 where we started the day. Andy free climbed across hole to make a loop closure. Due to the number of loops we called this the AMALGAMATION SERIES.
D A rather scrotty side crawl with mud floor then headed off to a third loop closure. When we came out into a passage with (Noel & Holly's) rope hanging down.
E Gardener's Question Time Andy then started rigging down the inclined tube of this pitch, past the first rope that Chris had rigged before. This led down to a chamber with a climb up to another aven/chamber off right - probably a B/C lead. A wobbly rock stopped us from climbing up further.
In the floor of the chamber was a very unpleasant hands + knees or flat out tube in mud, which continues. This is where the water goes... Using Fleur's temperature as an excuse, Pete + Andy headed back up pitch + derigged.
- Sketch survey and rigging
F DARK ARTS I (Pete's Lead).
We then continued down Leeds Bypass a short distance to a side lead on left. This carries a very good draft, it is initially contorted with a climb up (from which Dark Arts II starts) followed by a phreatic tube - that is usually big enough to stand up in. This gets very interesting - and was pushed further the next day.
G Dark Arts II (Fleur's lead)
On the way out Fleur saw the start of this side lead. It goes though an eye hole to a clean washed chamber with a phreatic tube leading off. This also drafts and is a good prospect!
The name Dark Arts refers to the failure of Fleur's Rude Nora at start of day...