Tunnocks Trips
Aaron
BECKA - actually three dates given: 24,25,26 July
Three days efforts in the face of loose boulders and inconvenient walls - requiring rebelay after rebelay after rebelay landed us at the bottom of the very impressive Tunnocks Schact. On the 25th, we reached "The Col", a spot between two large steep boulders/snow slopes where one can cower in relative safety from falling rocks. Looking down the second slope, I could just barely make out a dark area in the distance where the monolithic roof slab meets the end of the second snow slope, pronouncing it either a continuation or a "dirty patch of snow".
On the 26th, we put in the final spit, descended to the end of the rope, walked down the remaining few meters, and my "dirty patch of snow" resolved itself into a beautiful pool of ice with a 2-3m ice column and a horizontal passage. This became a mammoth trip, with Tom jotting 10 pages of survey (~160m), the discovery of Three Fried Mice chamber, Bauernknoppen passage, and an as of yet unnamed phreatic tube. A good deal of photography was also accomplished. Speculation: tube probably connects to Hilde's beer cellar.
Our return, though triumphant, met mixed reception; Dave seemed slightly miffed by the proximity of our 2344 appearance to our 2400 callout.