Balcony - Cathedral Chasm, attempted derig
Corin Donne
All of the more experienced expedition cavers seemed to be busy, so a fairly straightforward trip was needed which we (Aidan, Alice, Radost and I) could take the new arrivals on (Sarah, Ruairidh). The aim was to derig the pitch in Cathedral Chasm which Ash had rigged (over many hours, entirely on naturals) and use the rope to drop a drippy hole nearby. We eventually passed the Balcony entrance series and got to Cathedral Chasm. The number of people on this trip was clearly a few too many.
Aidan, Sarah, Radost and Ruairidh went to have a look at Ice Cock aven while Alice and I went to derig the pitch. The pitch had some unconventional rigging, and was rigged very tightly on naturals with some awkward sections. Neither of us had done much derigging before and we were both somewhat intimidated so we promptly fucked off at speed. We apologised to the others and then bailed on the trip. Six people was too many for this trip so it was a bit of a clusterfuck, but eventually gained the surface.
Note from Alice: the bottom of the pitch series led to a shelf that I was unable to reach. The cross section below shows the rigging at the time. 