A week at the YSS caving hut in the Yorkshire Dales, with three exchange trips, one through-trip and five other caves visited over six days.
Those arriving in The Dales on Monday evening partook in the first caving trip of the week on Tuesday with an It’s a Cracker/Boxhead Pot exchange. Both of these caves have some particularly fine pitches and reach the Leck Fell Master Cave below at the same point; perfect for an enjoyable SRT exchange. The two teams rigged their own respective route down to emerge on different sides of the final shaft at the same time, then after a sociable lunch and a quick explore, swapped routes to de-rig each other’s ropes.
Wednesday’s caving trip was to the relatively new discovery of Mayday Hole in Dowlass Moss. This multi-pitch SRT trip offered a very different trip to that undertaken the day before with a medley of short pitches and some interesting squeezes to negotiate along the way. With the team reinforced by additional members, Thursday saw another exchange trip, this time in the mighty Easegill system. Team “Cowboys” entered via Cow Pot, where the daylight shaft leads to an interesting route with some rather exciting rigging to the impressive final Fall Pot pitch into the master cave. Meanwhile team “Top Cats” braved the horseflies and extreme sun on the way up to the Top Sink entrance, then followed the narrow meandering stream passage of the upper reaches of the system, tackling two short pitches and a number of traverses, to reach the main cave system beyond. Both teams then traversed the large, impressive and very muddy high-level passage over the Main Drain in opposite directions to meet in the middle, then exit by the other entrance, passing The Minarets and the Painter’s Palette along the way.
With more members arriving Thursday evening, three very different trips took place on Friday including Juniper Gulf on Ingleborough with its famously spectacular final pitch and multiple traverses. Meanwhile a second party headed to Fountains Fell for a trip to the niche and interesting FOUL Pot, and third team enjoyed a somewhat gentler trip to the extensions beyond the choke in Dow Cave. The big Saturday trip involved yet another exchange, this time to the epic Gaping Gill system between two very different entrances – the awe-inspiring Main Shaft via Jib Tunnel and the shorter pitches and notable ducks of Disappointment Pot. Once below the respective pitches, the cave between was explored before everyone headed back to the surface via the opposite entrance. Meanwhile a trip with rather less SRT took place in Cherry Tree Hole in Darnbrook, journeying to Large Chamber and the more aquatic Far Stream Passage. The final trip of the week was the ever-popular and always fun pull-through trip from Swinsto Hole to Valley Entrance, with its medley of abseils and waterfalls on Sunday – a fitting end to six consecutive days of caving.
In addition to the caving trips, a number of members also came along to enjoy the sunshine and scenery of The Dales, chalking up a number of walks, cycle rides and pub visits throughout the week.
