Logbook entriees RE-ORDERED to calendar order not logbook writeup order.
Headed off to drop DM07 followed by DM06. Started with DM07 as the closer of the two. First pitch/handline 5m down from surface to large hole in ground. Into hole in wall, 1m down and 2m traverse over a drop of 3m leads to top of snow plug that can be followed down 8m to passage. Crawl for 10m leads to first pitch, 5m, closely followed by longer pitch (10m?) into a rather large chamber. The way leading back against the direction of progress quickly chokes. Way on leads to large boulder. A hole on the left side yields a safe continuation (the rope also leads this way) on to the next pitch of another 10m into yet another chamber. From here, an impressive pitch was observed(8m diameter) which a 27m rope was insufficient to descend. Probably 40m deep. Strong draft, predicted by the majority of CUCC to be larger than Tunnocks [citation needed].
Surveyed out of cave, tag left on small shelf right under surface level. Lack of pencils led to ditching of DM06, though this is an interesting cave. DM06 still unexplored.
Jon sprained ankle before cave entrance, the effects of which showed up shortly after arrival to top camp, and which subsided by the next day. Strange stuff which unfortunately led to me being unable to push further the next day. :-(
Carried 2x 45m ropes and a 80m rope over to Heimkommen. Dickon rerigged the pitch then ran out of rope on, now named Radagast.
Pushed through a small meander to an up pitch (3m). From there is was navigating a large meander, dropping a pitch (5m) and traversing through some boulders. Another pitch (10m) before a climb up and a traverse along the top of Wallace (40m) which landed perfectly on a boulderabove an estimated 50m-100m drop, named Grommit.
Out of rope so we surveyed out.
Homecoming entrance and first pitch rigging guide:
Radagast rigging guide and handclimb below Radagast (poor natural belay):
Traverse over hole and up the pitch in meander. Probably best left rigged for next year to save hassle on rerigging.
First meander pitch. String around boulder in roof to protect traverse over rammed blocks.
2nd meander pitch.
Rigging guide: Wallace and Gromit
traverse into the second coming
We set off from top camp,full of optimism for the day. Nadias's ankle was sore from the previous trip, so we wanted to take the shortest route to the cave to minimise stretch on it. With this in mind we set off along the path which went via fish face.
Arriving at fish face in good time we found another group that were about to go underground.After a chat, we set off for Homecoming with our glasses remaining half-full. Without a GPS we weren't entirely sure how to get there, but with morale high we were confident of bodging the way. I had already got lost going from FGH to HC, surely it couldn't happen again.
Fast forward an hour or so we were standing on the side of a sharpsloping wall of a gully. Looking in two different directions (our tone starting to resemble the internal monologue of a child who's lost their mum in Asda). We both said the same thing, 'I remember going this way'. After trialling the two options we discovered, with sinking morale, that we were both wrong.
My watch produce a nagging beep to signal mid-day; another pin-prick in the already deflating balloon that was my confidence. Our plan of action started to fragment;a staring chicken lost on a plane of fine brown gravel.
'It might be this way' I wouldsay 'no, maybe it's this way'.
Feeling a bit spent wedecided to rest. Over some flapjack crumbs we discussed our plan of action.
Setting off again, our plan A, B and C ready to go. We had at last cometoterms with our situation.
Bags on we walked around the bunde that had provided shelter for our break, a cairn, two, three,
the familiar path to Homecoming.
With regards to the cave, we swung into the window at the top of Gromit, bolted the pitch Anthony had startedthe day prior. It lead into two continuations; one horizontal, one vertically down. We crapped out the horizontal and left the other labelled as a QMB. Reason being: it's clean washed, and it looks like it will connect to cave already found below.
Having elected not to camp in Tunnocks the night before,Luke and I had a bonus extra day's caving. I wasnotin the moodfor anything too epic after emerging at 2am; a trip to a shallow level in Homecoming sounded like just the job.
Ladened with all out gear we set off following Frank who confidently asserted that he had followed a cairned path back from the cave via Fischgesicht the day before. It rapidly became apparent that these caves were a figment of Frank's imagination, so the stetch beyond Fischgesicht wasnavigated by GPS and involved much bunde bashing.
The cave itself looks like the real deal,and we quickly found ourway to the lead in a pleasant, small phreatic passage. Equipment-wide the trip was a mixture ofancient and modern: Frank and Luke went off surveying in full paperless mode with a DistoX and PDA, whilst I had to hand-bolt a pitch. I even used a clown out of choice rather than necessity. By the time Luke and Frank had finished surveying, I had descended to a ledge with a couple of ways on - later to become 'Snagged & Shagged' when revisited by Nadia and Adam.
Out nice and early, suckered Frank into walking back to Top Camp via the bivi cave on the flank of the Kleine Wildkogel. At a mere 50 mins longer in time than our route to the cave, this would go down as a less-than-successful short-cut.
First section, Second section
3rd section:
We walked to Homecoming through Fishface cairning the route with Haydon,Jon, Ruairidh, Phil and Typhon filling in the gaps.Making it a fully cairned route. Went down the hobnob hallway added a handline over the false floor using a thread. Should be made into a traverse with a bolt on the other side of the false floor. We put a handline on the sand slope using a thread at the top.
We carried on down the rift to the first junction on a boulder. The left has not been explored yet. We went right past the water downa tight rift. It opened into a pitch 13m. We turned around there. On the way back Frank saw a lead behind the wet bit. Way out took longer than anticipated.
A series of 4 trips bolting the Lizard King which is a rift with a strong draft in Homecoming Hole (CUCC-2018-DM07). Reached by doing traverse 10m over floor of Gromit, and taking right/(straight ahead) (not left) at the first junction.
A series of more or less exciting traverses lead to a phreatic maze with a large phreatic tube over a major rift around it. We bolted against the draft, using a 50m rope for the first section, ending on a small ledge (3m pitch). A further (more exciting) traverse along the top of the rift continues to the right until a sudden end after 15 min.
A 40m (?) pitch (1 dev, 2 rebelays) drops into a large muddy rift. From a ledge, a 4-bolt traverse pushed the continuation against the draft,into a further (larger) rift that would require bolting.
Further leads in the opposite direction or further down the rift (BIG RIFT!). Alternatively the opposite direction of the phreatic tube from the Lizard King. Lotsof bolting, were were very cold. Haydon says he was a 2 on a 1-10 scale where 1 is frozen solid.I was also very cold. In other words, an altogether excellent pushing front with a brilliant windchill effect.