Fischgesicht - Perseid (ex - Big Bastard)
Nat Dalton
Becka had disappeared down the hill in the previous day (in need of a wash) so a leisurely start was had with Becka arriving back at Top Camp for second breakfast at ~1100.
Walking over to Fishface in the midday heat was slightly gruelling but we arrived & were underground by ~1400. At the entrance we picked up Christopher who had been on a disappointingly quick trip with Nathan and Rachel. It was my first trip in Fishface & I was exceedingly surprised at how pleasant it was & all the pitches were very manageable (despite a variety of rigging styles, there was very minimal mud & very little to complain about!).
After ~1 hour 15 we were at Becka's noodle bar, which we immidiately put to good use. Becka banged in a few bolts whilst I enjoyed a smashed Mi Goreng. Once sated, I kitted up ∓ Becka & I swapped places. Swift progress was made due to some optimistic rigging (later corrected by Gwen - thank you (!)) until a large window was encountered. This seemed wetter than the drippy clean-washed shaft I was in, so I carried on down our original shaft until I reached a particularly puzzling section. This whole section is clean washed and feels like it will get wet, but I was unable to avoid it entirely; it will be interesting to see what this does on a wetter year. A few more bolts took me to ~30m above a large ledge with a big black hole swallowing lights (& rocks; a ~3 second drop plus rattle @ end). At this point I was down to my last hanger so put a rebelay in with a vague hope of being able to utilise cord & threads to progress further down. With limited mental capacities & a wall of cheese (Becka after I hit a promising looking natural with a hammer: "No thank you!"), I headed back up to offload gear (drill batteries stuffed down my front) to Becka. After ~100m rope of pitch descended we headed back to the noodle bar for a quick snack before ~3 hours saw us out at the surface. On the way up I admonished Becka for dropping little rocks on me to be told "they're only small shooting stars". After a while watching Chris get changed & pack in a spectacularly inefficient way I strobed him with my light to try & inspire a sense of urgency. This had limited success & Becka proceeded to get more exasperated after Chris had offered us figs & I suggested Becka do some mindfulness. We were finally ready & we were back at Stone Bridge for 3:00am.