204 - Surveying 204G
Dour
Wandered over the Quarries in the general direction of the new 204 entrances, which we found easily with the aid of Dave's GPS on the last section. Nial put in a tag bolt at the I entrance, and also a new tag bolt at G (the original having been placed in a mobile boulder). Frank and I surface surveyed from 204I to G and connected to Frank and Earl's earlier surface survey from 204D -> 2004-18.
We then festered on the surface for the better part of 2 hours before donning gear to commence the underground survey. Frank went down with an extra rope to complete the rigging. Apparently the rope was too tight - he could barely rig his rack - so some slack was introduced. The tight rigging at least had the advantage that when a 1m3 chunk of ice detached itself it completely missed the rope. Then we surveyed in, which was moderately tedious in a 45° ramp. About halfway down, a parallel sloping shaft appears which would give an ice-free descent. Some serious gardening is also required, as there is lots of loose crap at the top end which goes all the way down the main hang.
With the survey complete we had run out of time, and so escaped from the Land of Hanging Icy Death.