97 - Prospecting Beyond 97
Jenny Black
We went looking for a 'back door' into 97. Olly found a promising
looking shaft (2007-70) which he descended. 2007-70 is located on a
slight rise on the edge of a stretch of pavement just beyond 97. The
entrance is a approximately 1.5m diameter shaft with a horizontal
connection to an adjacent (larger) shaft a few metres down. At the
base, an icy snow slope drops away before the roof comes down - possibly
passable with less ice/snow. Above this end, and ice fall comes in from
a small passage up which I couldn't easily get to. The larger adjacent
shaft doesn't have any leads. While walking back Olly noticed a low
entrance (2007-71) in a slope. We took it in turns moving rocks out of
the way, and Olly went in. It drafts out a fair amount, though not as
much as Draft Bitter. I went back to the bivy (twice because I was
forgettful in my excitement at finding a new cave) to get my caving gear
and we went underground.
After the low wriggly start it improved to walking/stooping/crawling
passage. There is a currently undescended pitch early on the right,
another at the current end, and a yet to be explored side passage. I
have high hopes that it will be a significant cave in its own right, or
else connect with 97 or 76...