Andy Sparrow, David Cooke, Lawrence Wilson, Paul James, Peter Sanders, Rachel Sparrow, Seán Tidey, Will Puddy

Euan

In minus four temperatures we got changed quickly then stomped around the entrance whilst the two entrance pitches where rigged and descended, the second pitch is a bit awkward, particularly on the return and should probably have had a lifeline on it.

Once we where all down we started to warm up and moved off down mostly walking sized passage before stepping over the Aardvark Trap and negotiating a couple of squeezes before arriving in the roomier Shit Hot which we followed down to the head of Pyramid Pot

Not having any tackle we didn’t descend but had a look over the edge, at this point a rather sweaty Cookie arrived having arrived a bit late and chased us down the cave!

We retraced our steps back up the cave, just passed the Aardvark Trap we left the main passage by turning right up Paton Place then through the squeezes in White Dog Passage to gain Dragon Chamber, after a couple of false starts we found the on via a choice of two awkward down climbs, my preference was a clean but bold direct climb involving a wide bridge across the passage, others opted for a muddy slither down on sloping holds, very long sling was useful, a hand line would have been better.

Rejoining the main passage we where soon at the bottom of the ladders, if anything it was even colder by now on the surface so a quick change was the order of the day, my fingers had just warmed up by the time I got to the Woodborough for a welcome pint and debrief

— Lawrence Wilson 21/01/2024