Surveys and Rigging Guides
BCRA grade 5b, LUSS 1988
Plan and elevation (PDF)
Underground Description
A large rift gives an awkward 7m ladder climb down into a chamber leading to a boulder slope. Climb down in a rift for 8m (narrow at top) until a loose slope leads down to a 7m pitch where a small dry inlet enters. The pitch leads onto a rocking boulder wedged in a narrow rift and a tight squeeze down, The Jaws, forms the head of the next 16m pitch and the start of Deep Throat Series.The pitch lands in a small chamber with a short walking rift exit. Pitches of 14m, 8m and 10m follow in rapid succession. At the foot of the 10m pitch, a smooth, oval squeeze, The Cnut (spelling mistake), opens onto The Womb. This is a fine pitch of 41m in a spacious shaft, landing in a chamber 12m x 10m with a floor of large boulders of dubious stability.
A rift to one side is a loose and narrow pitch of 17m to a ledge and much nicer drop of 10m. A large rift, The Large Intestine, follows. Initially traversed on wide ledges, this soon narrows to a crawl along the rift at roof level. A 14m pitch descends to the foot of the rift and a short section of sharp, suit-ripping rift leads to a chamber with an inlet up to one side. The suit ripping rift can be bypassed by a pendulum, but the rope left for this is now hanging inaccessible, so the original manoevre would need to be repeated.
The exit from the chamber is too tight, but a 12m pitch up reaches a muddy solution tube at roof level, originally reached by an exposed traverse from a point halfway down the previous pitch. A slippery climb up and a short flat-out crawl, The Small Intestine, leads to the head of a constricted pitch of 10m to a wider section of the rift. After a few metres, a pit in the floor necessitates a climb down, then back up of 5m. At this point, a traverse follows the roof of the rift while the floor cuts down sharply. A pair of 13m deep holes are crossed by fairly exposed traverses, and further traversing reaches the next pitch Fantasy, in a shaft which is initially about 15m in diameter.
A drop of 46m, broken by ledges covered in loose boulders, lands on a large sloping ledge at a junction with a much larger shaft. The rubble needs caution, as much of the rest of the pitch is in the firing line.
The next section is 58m with two deviations, close to a wall down which some water falls. The opposite wall is some 20-30m away, and to either side, no walls are visible. Below this section, a narrow saddle of rock splits the shaft, the left hand route (facing the water) being taken. A further 27m lands on an enormous (20m x 30m) flat ledge right across the shaft, with pitches continuing both sides.
The right hand (facing the water) shaft is the continuation of the route voided at the rock saddle. A steep, muddy slope leads onto a 41m pitch and, below this, a climb over a muddy boulder pile leads onto a steep ramp (rope required) descending 15m into The Dream Machine. This is a massive passage 30m wide leading through boulders the size of houses. After about 100m, a boulder pile with a large central boulder is reached. Beyond, the passage can be seen to continue, but scaling equipment will be required to reach it.
From the 30m x 20m ledge, the left hand shaft is undescended, but rock tests indicate a similar depth to the right hand shaft, ie. about 50m.
At the end of 1988, the depth is 354m with excellent potential.
Stopped at -375m, no further details at present.
Explorers
LUSS 1988References
- 87.1514
- Austria Reconnaissance Expedition 1987, Lancaster University Speleological Society
- 89.1866
- Dead Mountains Expedition 1988, L.U.S.S. 24pp illus.