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Swaledale Outdoor Club |
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Swaledale Outdoor Club |
| > Home > Newsletter > Caving > Alum Pot |
Alum PotI hadn't been underground for a while - since the trip to Mendip in summer. Holidays, work and a spell serving Queen and Country in Oman put aside any chance of trying out my shiny new SRT kit. So Paul promised me a Spectacular trip to christen my new kit. We surfaced to icy ground and stunning views of Peny-Ghent with a light dusting of snow, however we didn't linger for long, a hasty trip back to the car in the fading light, even the disinfecting footbaths were frozen. We then spent an even shorter than normal time getting changed. Jamie quote of the day 'today's not the day to be spending half an hour chatting in your underpants.' A thought agreed with by us all.… A cold Thursday in early November day saw Simon, Jamie, Paul B & myself meet in Leyburn for the trek across first to Inglesport for the customary bacon sarnie, pints of tea and parting of cash on new toys. This time Simon buying a new over-suit, and myself an extra fleecy layer on account of it being an extra cold day. We then headed for Selside Farm to pay our 50p's. A quick change followed, Paul and I were glad of arriving pre clad in fleecy suits - one less exposure of skin to icy winds. It was all agreed to pack rope bags underground rather than stand around longer than we had to. A short walk later saw us at the entrance to Diccan after stopping briefly on the way to look down into Alum - a cracking view from above. We entered and made our way down through some stunning passages to the head of the first pitch. We geared up and Paul began to rig the pitch which he then descended first followed by Simon. The time had arrived to test out my new scratch free descender. I actually found getting on this pitch a bit tricky, which put doubts in my mind for getting back off again on the way out. I was off and on my down. Once off the rope I made my way towards the daylight. I stood and looked out. From the top it was a cracking view from this vantage point halfway (ish) down the view was, as Paul promised - Spectacular, I wished that I had brought a camera with me. I was still taking it all in when Jamie arrived behind me. We went down further in daylight, several short drops, over very slippery green rocks, still we had stunning views of the water cascading down from above to somewhere still far below us. The second pitch (proper) was probably the best I've done - certainly the longest at 30m. On the third pitch I needed two attempts to get on, my first go saw me approaching the rope too high, leaving me in the wrong place to get on the rope. Once we were all at the foot of the pitch we set off to clamber down and explore the bottom. We were met by the thundering sound and draft caused by the force of water crashing down from the top of Diccan. We started to make our way out, this time with Simon de-rigging. The long second pitch was LONG and a much-needed rest was taken at the deviation, which I did much better on the way up than I did on the way down. The short sections of the slippery rocks saw some very interesting 'make it up as you go along' techniques. The last pitch out was worrying me after struggling to get on going down, this was enhanced by Jamie having a bit of difficulty at the top on the way out. My fears were unfounded as I got up and off with no problems. My SRT kit had been christened. We exited through Longchurn via the cheese-press. Not all of us successfully. I tried and failed miserably and had to be dragged unceremoniously back out by my welly clad feet. I was stuck solid. Excuses thought of at the time were A. Not quite mastered the 'worm wriggle' technique. B. Not wearing a slippery yellow suit. C. Too many pies. Paul Grainge |