Balcony Höhle: Traversing + dropping Pit Pot

Thu 07 Aug 2014
Noel



I had my eye on an exciting traverse/bridge over a rift with large passage continuing beyond. We set up & just as I abseiled over the edge, and got ready to make the great leap across I could hear Chris's voice from the passage ahead. Shouting made contact & he came round the corner on the far side of the traverse. Doh! hence the Leeds by-pass name.

After crossing Pit Pot traverse earlier (see Katey's entry) we headed back to drop the first of the pits which looked promising & reasonably simple. Holly started from some bolts she had previously placed in the traverse, descending around 20m to a boulder slope. With a bit of gardening, the slope was followed down to the edge of another pit, with solid walls for bolting in.

Noel continued to descend, hoping for a good lead after having the last one bypassed by Chris & co. Bolting in from the right wall saw fairly simple rigging with 1 re-belay & deviation to the floor of the pit. Looking up at the top of this second pitch, it is obvious you are just (~20 - 30m) below the ledge at the traverse above (Leeds by-pass).

At the bottom, a small rift led off with a bit of draft. We surveyed along for a while before reaching the time we had agreed to prussik out. Maybe worth returning but still plenty of better leads here.

Sketch of area and rigging

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Survex files on this date:
    caves-1623/264/lemonsnout
    caves-1623/264/leedsbypass
    caves-1623/264/pitpot2
Wallets on this date:
    2014#19 LemonSnout ['notes2', 'notes1', 'elev1', 'plan1']
    2014#20 Leeds Bypass ['notes2', 'notes1', 'elev2', 'notes3', 'plan2', 'elev1', 'plan1']
    2014#22 Pitpot2 ['notes1', 'plan2', 'elev1', 'plan1']
Logbook trips on this date:
    Balcony - 2005-05 Balcony Höhle
    Balkonhöhle - A Room With a View
    Balcony Höhle: Traversing + dropping Pit Pot
    Balcony Höhle