UKC

Did the recently broadcast TV programme Ultimate Caving, change your perspective of caving enough for you to give it a try (or think about trying); or did it do nothing more than reinforce your thoughts on the subject and you'll cave when hell freezes over?

Cheers.

In reply to brt: 2nd one probably

In reply to rich:

If the second option, any chance of a flavour why not?

In reply to Al Evans:

I'm working on the time off Al. Will correspond soon.

In reply to brt:

Having not caved for 10 years I could fancy it again

I wish they'd interviewed other people involved in the discovery of Titan though

In reply to brt:

I wouldn't mind walking about in caves and the abs and the jummars but you can count me out if there are going to be any of those sumps and squeezes.

In reply to JLS:

Squeezes and sumps scare the bejasus out of me. I will never go beyond the end of the show cave at Ingleborough...

In reply to JLS:


My thoughts exactly, wouldn't mind the wet or the cold or even crawling about but there is no way I'd want to be jammed in a tiny tiny crawl space or have to do any of that freediving nonsense in the dark.

Watching bits of that programme made me really uncomfortable, nevermind having to do it!

In reply to brt:

i guess the 3 programmes taken together reinforced to me how, with limited time and funds and 'oomph' how good climbing is and how i've always fancied the idea of kayaking on the quiet

caving came across though as pretty much what i thought - the whole rope and ladder access business strikes me as a bit tedious - the getting cold and wet and muddy business isn't a great turn on either (although i don't mind cold outdoors)

In reply to brt:

All good stuff. There is no right or wrong answer so keep it coming. From my reading of it, slightly more people are curious about it than before, yes?

In reply to magpie:

Caving is not cold in Spain, and from my limited experience (in caving in Spain not in caving in general) its rarely wet. In fact its an ideal summer activity to keep cool.

In reply to brt:
I saw the first half of the prog, with the squeeze and the sump. The sump put me off. The squeeze I could cope with, if it was dry (eg no chance of slowly drowning in the dark, whilst stuck.) I heard long ago, that if you get stuck underground, cave rescue will often break your bones to get you out rather than chip away at the rock with a hammer and chisel. Don't know if that is the case, or if some one was try to scare me.

In reply to dread-i:

I'm not going to tell you!!









Oh all right. It's myth, but only just.

In reply to brt:

Have you ever been down Daren Cilau?

I don't know if it's still there but there used to be a box above the door in the CSS hut labelled "Daren Cilau Rescue Kit", purportedly containing a revolver.

In reply to brt:

I certainly wouldn't be caving if hell froze over - can you imagine the ice lines that would be in nick if that happened?

In reply to Mike C:

Haha never stayed at CSS. Doesn't surprise me though.

In reply to brt:

If you read up on the Neil Moss tragedy both things were suggested, chipping the rock and breaking his collar bones to get him out.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810881,00.html

In reply to brt: done a bit of caving before and always quite enjoyed it at the time and subsequently in the open air.. in fact that was certianly something i could empathise with her: enjoying being in sunshine again.

although watching that sump business might just have put me off for life.. there's no way anyone would be pushing me through that! mind you i think i might just have the build for this sort of thing - skinny.

In reply to gingerdave13: in fact i've got or had (yes they're still alive) mates who like this sort of thing, and have been involved with organised trips away (thankfully lead by professionals). However, there are remarkable similarities between some aspects of caving and climbing.. imagine a full body jam,, then lay it horizontal and add some darkness, moistness and less air/veiw.. pretty much the same thing.

In reply to sutty:

Yes, I know two of the rescue team members, and have a pretty good working knowledge of what goes on in cave rescue.

Did it put you off or turn you on though?

In reply to gingerdave13:

One of my favourite memories is of taking this Marine down Swildon's. He was in charge of 2nd stage training at CTC Lympstone at the time & caving was about the only outdoor activity he hadn't tried. He was reasonable OK in the tight duck that I'd bailed so there was only really nostril room between the water & the roof (he soon learned that making waves wasn't a good idea), but nearly freaked when he found out we had to go through a sump to get out. It was only about 4 or 5 feet with a sodding great rope through it but he was still suffering from nerves when we reached the surface. I often wonder if he ever did any more caving!

In reply to sutty:

It was generally thought that there were no real viable ways of rescuing badly injured casualties from Daren Cilau, such was the nature of the entrance crawl, hence the revolver. After the discovery of the massive extensions in the early 1980's plans were actually laid down for underground hospitalisation in the event of a serious accident.

In reply to brt:

I did a bit of potholing years ago, and the program did make me think about starting again.

In reply to Mike C:


It's one of those places where you're extra careful about everything you do, that's for sure!
jk

In reply to Al Evans:

Caving in Spain sounds like it might be more my thing then

In reply to brt:
Put me off it even more!!!

In reply to magpie: Well it certainly dispenses with all that freezing your rocks off as you change out of your soggy wetsuit in a blizzard as you emerge from some yorkshire horror trip. At least with P8 you got a barn to change in

In reply to Al Evans:

I think you mean Giant's; unfortunately no longer.

In reply to brt: yep i saw the programme and have actually been in 3 of the 4 systems but yes it made me tink why do i do it its horrible , or well until next time i go to goyden with a group in tow ,

In reply to brt:

Don't like the idea of it at all (unless there's buried treasure ).

I love the outdoors. I spend all week in a miserable 'cave'

In reply to brt:

I'd like to watch that, any repeats anytime?

I haven't been since my SRT kit was nicked out of the back yard.

The Ent ™

In reply to Al Evans:

Nah, with P8 you got a layby and a blanket. If you were lucky...

In reply to brt:

The Moss thing was happening just as I got claustrophobic so was horrific to hear the news reports but didn't put me off, though I only went down a couple of places I knew after that.

When a VI at Whitehall we used to take kids under the curtain in Giants, what is that like now they have extended it greatly?

In reply to sutty:

You mean near the entrance? Very, very different by all accounts. I've only seen photo's/heard descriptions. It's a walk and stoop all the way to Garlands now.

In reply to TN: No,in my day you got a barn for P8, where did the blanket come from?

In reply to Al Evans:

Where was the barn?

In reply to sutty: As you probably know, Bob Toogood was central to the Moss rescue attempts, you may also know that it was TV's first ever live news coverage of an inpromptu event/tragedy. By Granada TV of course, and maybe the BBC who obviously had to compete.

In reply to Mike C: You didn`t do the old "bang helmet with lump of rock on way out of sump so they think they are still in sump" trick then?

In reply to Al Evans:

Lucky you. The blanket was from the back of the car so you didn't flash your bum at passing cars. Or am I just a prude?

In reply to Chris H:

I used to find tapping gently with your fist had enough of an effect
Not that I'd ever admit to it publically of course!

In reply to brt: Where you paid the fee, straight across the (was it?) the B6061, that might be wrong. But you had to go and pay for 'Jackpot' as they called it, and then they offered you they're barn, it was only 10p as I remember.

In reply to Al Evans:

That's right about making the contribution but we were never offered use of the barn. Maybe we looked less trustworthy than you guys?!

In reply to brt: For me, definitely the latter. I couldn't see the attraction before, and I still couldn't see it after. The programme reinforced my view that caving seems to consist of going through dark, dirty, claustrophobic places in order to arrive somewhere equally dark and dirty but, if you're lucky, slightly less claustrophobic.

I couldn't get my head around how some of those squeezes and sumps were first explored. How could anyone set off in to a narrow space where it becomes impossible to reverse your route, when you don't even know whether it leads anywhere? At least with a mountain or a crag you know that there's an end point to aim at ie the top.