GSH - Dropping the big pitch in GSH, Nadia leg break
Rob Watson
After having worked out the optimum route the day before, we headed back to the cave with Nathan and Nadia in tow. They we to drop the other hole while we went deep into GSH and then surveyed back. The rigging was again made difficult by a proliferance of shit rock until the lower depths of the pitch were reached, where the rock was excellent. Prior to this, we had spent a good hour crow-barring big table sized boulders at the top of the pitch rigged yesterday.
At the bottom of the pitch, a rift was followed for ~60m under and over some boulder obstacles until another pitch was reached. This was where we stopped for the day, placing two bolts with the last of the drill battery before surveying out, which due to the enormous dimensions of the passage (a huge fault-controlled rift with multiple avens coming off it) was a twat to visualise on paper.
Soon out and en route back after receiving a message from Nathan on a soup packet: ‘Nadia injured leg. We need your help. Time now 16:00.’ Three hours behind, we packed up Nadia’s caving gear and set off back, picking up her rucksack as well en route at the sight of the accident. Apparently she had pulled a big boulder onto herself. There was an obvious section of disturbed mud but we didn’t see the proclaimed blood splatters.