ExCS mailing list: various dates

Top Caving Tips

Below is a series of useful snippets of information taken from ExCS members' actual experience in the great underground. ExCS doesn't have a log book (ExCS is a very distributed caving platform, to use topical techno-babble, and a physical paper object doesn't sit well with the client-server model :-). However, various trip reports are posted to the list, especially when someone has a useful warning or tip to impart. Some of these (I don't guarantee to have got all of them) are gathered together here for reference. They are collated in alphabetical order of cave (or area, if a number of caves are covered in one report), rather than chronological order. The page isn't big enough to need any kind of index, yet...

Caveat Emptor: as always, information from the net is worth pretty much what you pay for it. Whilst these top tips were provided in good faith and were believed accurate on the date posted, things (especially in situ equipment) change with time, and no responsibility can be taken if they turn out to be bogus info today. The webmaster would like to hear of any discrepancies with reality that you may find ... mail webmaster on site pennine.demon.co.uk, thanks.

King Pot

Adam Cooper 1998-04-27

In case anyone cares, here is our gear-use list for King on string:

Pitch NameRope LengthRigging
Rope-fixed rope
1st12 m1 hanger, 1 sling, 1 krab
traverse-fixed rope
2nd14 m2 hangers
Emma's14 m1 hanger, 1 sling, 1 krab
Anne's-free climb
Bloodaxe18 msling
Victoria18 m 3 hangers (shorter will do but you stand on chocked rocks)
Elizabeth33 m 2 hangers, (sling, snap-krab)
Jane's-free

There was no problem with stripped spits and a long sling would be handy on some climbs. Some rope lengths are a shade over.

Pikedaw

Adam Cooper 1998-04-27

A top Sunday trip

Interesting points (depending on your inclination)

  1. There was what Dave identified as Honey Fungus tendrils. These are creeper-like brown tendrils which seemed to come from some of the old wood and had done a good job at creeping several metres through the debris/sand.
  2. Take a ladder for the 8' pot and a stick-on belay.
  3. Gear: it would be a great ladder pitch, but on rope, at least one sling is needed and no hangers.
  4. Location; it really is RIGHT next to the path.
  5. A sample of spangley pale pink/yellow mineral was removed and analysed with some random chemistry. It was not Smithsonite (Zinc carbonate), which is the normal Calamine but did appear to contain Zinc in some form (released by adding concentrated sulphuric acid; that showed it) and could have been hydrous Zinc silicate, which is called Calamine in the US.
  6. There was a surfeit of rubbish; Pikedaw needs adopting.

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