Rapido trip down Waterfall, Just Rob and I to climb the aven at the end of Great Gunns Rift in Waterfall Hole. Rob fresh of his expedition in Mulu was not ready for the freezing cold night what lay ahead. Temperature at the shakehole was below zero. We quickly kitted up, armed with a drill, SRT and rope which we didn’t need and headed for the Wardwinn’s Crawl. Rob had been down Waterfall once some 15 years ago so was keen for another look with hindsight of SMMC.
Wardwinn’s wasn’t too bad as it had dried out nicely but the wet part was still wet but we managed to keep out of it as much as possible. Down the pitch and I led Rob through the maze of boulders to Waterfall Chamber. He remarked on how efficient I got us down here as with no prior knowledge this would be tricky navigation. From Waterfall Chamber we took the solid rift heading east and started the shuffle up through the rift. No doubt we were the first people to climb this with SRT kits on and what a silly thing it was, it just seemed to snag everywhere. We entered the aven at the top and a second look (and a second pair of eyes) it was obvious that a bolt was not required. I climbed first and Rob quickly followed. We put a handline on just in case via a natural thread.
The chamber at the top was pretty grim, black in colour, approx. 2m squared with no way on and would require some serious shoring to dig. Rob checked out the other direction via a delicate manoeuvre over a flake, again – no way on. Quickly crapping the place out we headed back without delay and made our way to surface. It sure was freezing when we surfaced and it took me a good few hours to warm back up. Post beers next to the fire in the Bull’s head was appropriate.
Another one bites the dust.