148 - final trip
Olly Betts
Decided it was time for a final trip in 148 to push the remaining
lead to a conclusion and derig. So we packed all the rope in the bivi
into a very full bag and set off.
We used a boulder and a spike as backups, then I climbed down the
rift, used another spike as a backup and stuck in a spit for the hang.
This got me down to where I'd been already via the alternate tight
thrutchy route. A rebelay off a thread reached the boulder-strewn
chamber floor. I followed the rift off the far side, round a corner to
the left, and it ended, far too tight. Shouted to Jenny that it was
over, then returning noticed a tight hold down into the rift, partly
hidden by the nose of a huge slab of fallen rock. A really strong icy
draught blasted up from it! Jenny sounded a little disappointed that it
wasn't really over.
A y-hang on spits and some awkward squirming reached a nicely
proportioned pitch. At the base, the floor was mostly clean-washed rock,
with a gravel bank to one side. The water flowed down a small hole, but
a climb up regained the rift. Round the corner to the left, the floor
dropped away. Stones rattle down the initial rift, then freefall for
perhaps 4 seconds (starting to whistle) then hit something solid, then
fell for another similar length of time. Hard to judge the total depth,
but a substantal pitch, and the 44m rope we had left wasn't going to
reach, so we surveyed out and planned to go back to base for more
rope.