143
Dave Brindle
With the air of a man selling bits of the real cross, Tony assured us this was the one. After slagging his bolting technique, it didn't take long to use 100m of Edelrid; bash in a bolt, drop down a free hanging 30m shaft, traverse to head of next pitch, bash in a bolt. Spacious shafts, textbook rigging, the draught still inwards, we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. At about -140m, we came to a sad end - at the foot of the final shaft a very narrow joint led off, which would take quite a bit of hammering to allow even Chas through ! The draught whistled inwards, and the rift looked 10m deep, widening after a few feet. After a considerable snack, we hurried out. V. efficient trip, and an inspection of the 115/41 survey later seems to show that the end is very near, both horizontally and depthwise, to Stellerweg around the big pitch. So at least we're in the right area.
5½ hours Dave