... Well the first bit at least.
Climbing-wise, like I said I got 3 days out. One was with Andy and we managed to nip into the quarries between the rain and started off "Snakes and Ladders and Tunnels". We managed to get into california and navigate the second tunnel without getting out feet wet. There seems to have been a lot of new debris on the tunnel floor which makes staying dry quite easy. We then found our chain which seems to be the first "pitch" of climbing. It's only short and I found it pretty easy to lead but quite pumpy. You only need slings to protect yourself from falling off and there are several options to sling pipes etc that are not attached to the chain. Actaully, attaching protection to things other than the chain is probably a good thing, especially if you've seen the state of the top of the Chain. I was surprised to find what would have been a double bolt belay in the tunnel above (there is one hanger missing but the nut is still on the end). It makes for a safe belay which is more
than I was hoping for.
Andy made fine work of the chain (with a few tugs on the rope as he had the backpack) and we sat staring out of the tunnel entrance, enjoying the new view point and looking over at California arete, which now sat drying in the weak sun. We sorted the ropes and gear, then crawled over a small roof collapse before making our way out of the tunnel. There is a tree which has some tat left on it. I've seen people abseiling from here before and was amazed by what a mess they were making of it (it did look more like a guided group, rather than a bunch of climbers). The abseil is actually quite awkward across that annoying slipping moss covered slate but me and Andy have backed off enough stuff to have become quite good at abseiling. We were down on the ground in no time. We had enough time to look at the amazing blue lake that had become dali's hole before hightailing it out of there, with the promise of a cup of tea when we got back to the car!
Climbing-wise, like I said I got 3 days out. One was with Andy and we managed to nip into the quarries between the rain and started off "Snakes and Ladders and Tunnels". We managed to get into california and navigate the second tunnel without getting out feet wet. There seems to have been a lot of new debris on the tunnel floor which makes staying dry quite easy. We then found our chain which seems to be the first "pitch" of climbing. It's only short and I found it pretty easy to lead but quite pumpy. You only need slings to protect yourself from falling off and there are several options to sling pipes etc that are not attached to the chain. Actaully, attaching protection to things other than the chain is probably a good thing, especially if you've seen the state of the top of the Chain. I was surprised to find what would have been a double bolt belay in the tunnel above (there is one hanger missing but the nut is still on the end). It makes for a safe belay which is more
than I was hoping for.
Andy made fine work of the chain (with a few tugs on the rope as he had the backpack) and we sat staring out of the tunnel entrance, enjoying the new view point and looking over at California arete, which now sat drying in the weak sun. We sorted the ropes and gear, then crawled over a small roof collapse before making our way out of the tunnel. There is a tree which has some tat left on it. I've seen people abseiling from here before and was amazed by what a mess they were making of it (it did look more like a guided group, rather than a bunch of climbers). The abseil is actually quite awkward across that annoying slipping moss covered slate but me and Andy have backed off enough stuff to have become quite good at abseiling. We were down on the ground in no time. We had enough time to look at the amazing blue lake that had become dali's hole before hightailing it out of there, with the promise of a cup of tea when we got back to the car!
 |
| (Sadly my camera doesn't do the amazing blue of dali's hole justice) |
 |
| (the first tunnel, all kitted up!) |
 |
| (Probably the crux, reaching the first set of bars) |
 |
| (Andy finally getting hold of the camera) |
 |
| (Long shutter down the third tunnel) |
Well, so far so good. I've actually done some of "Snakes..." now and I'm looking forward to doing the rest of it.
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