Homecoming - Watershed
Becka
Slogged down from Top Camp to Homecoming and headed down the entrance series. Wassil had snagged the rope on the longish pitch near the entrance (just after snow ends, beyond short crawl). It was so tight that Charlotte had to downprussik to free it. Steady progress to the pushing front in ~2.5 hours.
Charlotte rigged a traverse down and across 2m so Harry and I could survey a side passage that quickly reached a pitch whilst Charlotte remained to finish rigging the pitch. We all descended the pitch to 2 routes.
Right quickly led to another pitch so Charlotte continued rigging the same rope down this pitch whilst Harry and I surveyed left to a drop down to a canyon with a stream in it. We all descended Charlotte’s second pitch which dropped in a canyon streamway, and we surveyed a couple of legs each direction to check they went. Right upstream headed to short splashy climbs up. Downstream was tightish canyon.
We exited in ~4 hours with a disturbing find on Gromit (the 50m at the base of the entrance series) – I saw a lump of mud on the rope, tried to flick it off but argh, the sheath had gone from a chunk of rope. I cautiously jammered above it, shouted down to warn the others, and tied it out in a butterfly. It was ~5m below the rebelay and many metres from any of the walls so hard to know what caused it – sharp jammers? Rockfall? Previous damage? Out 11pm and then a disappointingly long slog up to Garlic Cave to enjoy the new facilities.