Balcony Höhle: Traversing + dropping Pit Pot
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.