RD Milhollin
08-02-2005, 12:32 PM
Bill Mixon posted this report on the CaveTex list. Read all the way through
from the beginning.
On October 10, 2004, J. Cordingley observed in a cave in Yorkshire that the passage was blocked 1 meter beyond the end of previous survey by a large rectangular block that had dropped out of the ceiling. It was 1 meter wide and could be seen to be at least 4 meters long, and it would be necessary to get over it somehow.
On November 13, A. Hall attacked the block with a "lump hammer" (a sledge, presumably), and managed to squeeze in about 2 meters over the block. J. Cordingley then tried, but was unable to progress farther. He spent some time removing about a cubic meter of the block, using the hammer and a long chisel and exploiting natural fracture lines. All the loose pieces were rolled back to the sides of the approach passage, and Cordingley was then able to squeeze forward about another meter. Further work broke off two more large pieces, but time did not allow them to be moved.
On November 20, Cordingley went in to deal with the boulders loosened the previous weekend. The first one was 1.2 meters long and and 0.6 meters square and was far too big to manhandle out of the way. A bolt was placed in it, and it was winched a meter down the passage, where it broke in two. One part was disposed of, and another bolt was placed in the second part in preparation for the next trip.
On December 5, Cordingley returned and placed a bolt in the approach passage floor to winch the remaining boulder out of the way. Another large boulder was then separated from the great block in front by hitting several chisels in sequence along a crack. It was too big to shift, but a long session with chisels and lump hammer eventually got in into smaller pieces, all of which were then rolled back down the passage.
On December 6, Cordingley managed to get over the remains of the block to its far end, but the step down in the roof there prevented him from getting beyond that point, although a crawl could be seen continuing. He then attacked the remaining rock, and another large lump was broken off. Much hammering ensued, but it refused to fall in two, so a hole was drilled in it in preparation for winching.
Another assault on the boulder was made on January 14, 2005, but it still
refused to break, so a hole for it was dug in the floor and a bolt placed in
the hole previously drilled, and it was drug into the hole. The next
boulder, apparently the last, was observed to be a monster, at least a meter from front to back.
On February 2, Cordingley placed a bolt in the last boulder before digging a hole to receive it. It was delicately winched toward the hole, because it
had to land in just the right spot, there being very little room left. This
was successful, and he was able to proceed past the original blockage, only to find three meters later that an abrupt step back up in the ceiling was too sharp to negotiate in the tight passage.
On February 19, Cordingley attempted to chamfer off the edge of the step up with a lump hammer, and after about an hour a good bit of rock had been removed and the squeeze was passed to gain 2 meters of low bedding-plane crawl.
Well, OK, so just another difficult dig with little result. So what? What I
have concealed by artful editing is that all this took place 50 meters into
a water-filled cave and was done by cave divers. Hardcore.
(From reports in the Cave Diving Group [Great Britain] Newsletter, number 155, April 2005.)
from the beginning.
On October 10, 2004, J. Cordingley observed in a cave in Yorkshire that the passage was blocked 1 meter beyond the end of previous survey by a large rectangular block that had dropped out of the ceiling. It was 1 meter wide and could be seen to be at least 4 meters long, and it would be necessary to get over it somehow.
On November 13, A. Hall attacked the block with a "lump hammer" (a sledge, presumably), and managed to squeeze in about 2 meters over the block. J. Cordingley then tried, but was unable to progress farther. He spent some time removing about a cubic meter of the block, using the hammer and a long chisel and exploiting natural fracture lines. All the loose pieces were rolled back to the sides of the approach passage, and Cordingley was then able to squeeze forward about another meter. Further work broke off two more large pieces, but time did not allow them to be moved.
On November 20, Cordingley went in to deal with the boulders loosened the previous weekend. The first one was 1.2 meters long and and 0.6 meters square and was far too big to manhandle out of the way. A bolt was placed in it, and it was winched a meter down the passage, where it broke in two. One part was disposed of, and another bolt was placed in the second part in preparation for the next trip.
On December 5, Cordingley returned and placed a bolt in the approach passage floor to winch the remaining boulder out of the way. Another large boulder was then separated from the great block in front by hitting several chisels in sequence along a crack. It was too big to shift, but a long session with chisels and lump hammer eventually got in into smaller pieces, all of which were then rolled back down the passage.
On December 6, Cordingley managed to get over the remains of the block to its far end, but the step down in the roof there prevented him from getting beyond that point, although a crawl could be seen continuing. He then attacked the remaining rock, and another large lump was broken off. Much hammering ensued, but it refused to fall in two, so a hole was drilled in it in preparation for winching.
Another assault on the boulder was made on January 14, 2005, but it still
refused to break, so a hole for it was dug in the floor and a bolt placed in
the hole previously drilled, and it was drug into the hole. The next
boulder, apparently the last, was observed to be a monster, at least a meter from front to back.
On February 2, Cordingley placed a bolt in the last boulder before digging a hole to receive it. It was delicately winched toward the hole, because it
had to land in just the right spot, there being very little room left. This
was successful, and he was able to proceed past the original blockage, only to find three meters later that an abrupt step back up in the ceiling was too sharp to negotiate in the tight passage.
On February 19, Cordingley attempted to chamfer off the edge of the step up with a lump hammer, and after about an hour a good bit of rock had been removed and the squeeze was passed to gain 2 meters of low bedding-plane crawl.
Well, OK, so just another difficult dig with little result. So what? What I
have concealed by artful editing is that all this took place 50 meters into
a water-filled cave and was done by cave divers. Hardcore.
(From reports in the Cave Diving Group [Great Britain] Newsletter, number 155, April 2005.)