UKC

Ok, this isn't exactly climbing, so I don't really expect any answers, but I know climbers have done this as well. btw, does anyone know of a rocktalk caving equivalent?

Has anyone done the Croesor to Rhosydd mine ("chamber of horrors") through trip lately? We're thinking of doing this trip sometime this year.

The last reports I've read on the web talk of extensive bits of roof falling in, and some ways blocked.

Also, what conditions are the fixed ropes/bridges in, and do you still need to bring your own dinghy, as one report mentions one being left in there.

In reply to brendonTendon: Try here.
;http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dds8sa/

In reply to sutty:

where abouts? I've just had a good look round and couldn't see anything on Croesor...am I being thick?

In reply to brendonTendon:
Sorry, the link was intended to send you to the links page.
Have a look on the links, dozens of caving clubs etc. Someone on here caves, do a search of the forums and see who it is.

In reply to sutty:

ah ha, cheers anyway...

...there's a good account of this trip here, for anyone who's interested:
http://www.subwales.co.uk/mines/croesor.html

check the scary pics.

and a sort of quite funny one here:
http://www.anchor.co.uk/home/rob/GwyneddCavePot/Ogofa/Ogofa3/CroesortoRhosy...

talk about incompetent - no way I'd do it without a full set of jammers to get back out, and some climbing belays in case the fixed ropes snapped depositing you in the depths...

In reply to brendonTendon:

Is this croesor route the same one that was written up in High ages (and I mean ages!) ago by a couple of anonymous PyB instructors? if so, sounds awesome. Or is there another system somewhere in wales??

In reply to alex:

someone said it'd been in a climbing mag a long time ago...if anyone can scan me a copy I'd be most grateful.

I know someone who's done it a couple of years ago, but he also does solo aid climbs on El Cap so I was after other opinions/info from more sane individuals

In reply to brendonTendon:

We've got all the Highs here, so will have a quick look and see...if anybody knows the year that'd be handy though!

In reply to alex:

that'd be brilliant - I've emailed the editor of high to see if they can tell me which issue it is.

In reply to brendonTendon:
Went to have a look several years ago after hearing about it from some PyB guy. Very spooky, at the entrance met this really odd looking old guy who I swear looked more like a hobbit than a man (no I hadn't partaken of the local fungi) He said he was one of the original mine engineers/geologists, and had a stack of old plans with him and some old photos. Told us not to go in under any circumstances, as many of the floors were false, held up by timbers that might collapse without warning. Of course this just made the whole thing even more Indiana Jones and we went in for a poke around. Decided to be sensible (only one headtorch between us and no climbing kit) and buggered off. Always had the strange urge to return .........

In reply to dan m:

False floors? Oh dear. That sounds poor. The one person I've spoken to who's done it said it was like being in Tomb Raider.

I think we're going to take full caving srt rigs + some climbing kit for anything that's going to be shockloaded.

One better way might be to have two parties, one going from each side - then any old fixed lines could be re-rigged. I hate trusting old fixed ropes.

Think you did the right thing with only one headtorch as it can take upto 8 hours. I've been stuck in a cave once under Symonds Yat when our torch went out and it was really unpleasant.

In reply to brendonTendon:
I have been having a look at some of the links I gave you, about a months reading there I think.
Looked at the "humorous" site,
http://www.anchor.co.uk/home/rob/GwyneddCavePot/Ogofa/Ogofa3/CroesortoRhosy...

loved the cartoons at the bottom of the page, makes those tomb raider things seem tame.

looked on another site and there have been further falls maybe blocking the through route, rated highly dangerous.

In reply to sutty:

those drawings are well funny! Sounds like he was quite lucky to get out though - I wouldn't want to fall into a 50ft deep slate pool, 400ft underground wearing a rucksack full of caving ladders. Not nice.

I got this reply from uk.rec.caving:

Dodgy, but depends how recent your last trip was as to how much more dodgy
it is than your memory of it! A number of van-squishing slabs have come down
between the chambers, a through-trip is still possible, but it's downright
pantfilling in places. The chain bridge is no longer up to taking weight and
the naily plank is getting a bit too bendy for my liking, but apart from
that it's just another nice Welsh hole in't'slate... full of crisp wrappers,
cub scouts and lost dogs as usual! Ropes should be still in, but take a few
anyway as sometimes the odd one goes walkies...


Still keen to do it, but I think we'll have to be very careful and be prepared to get the hell out in a hurry. I've been in some unstable caves before and it's generally a scary experience.

In reply to brendonTendon: out of interest, where and what is this?

In reply to Marky Boy:

Check the links for more info - it's a through trip connecting two old slate mine systems in N. Wales. Very "tomb-raider" esque apparantly. Old bridges, lakes to cross, climbing, etc, all 400ft underground.

I know someone who's done it but that was over 2 years ago and the place is very unstable, so I'm just trying to get current info.

In reply to brendonTendon:
I am now claustrophobic so had to give up climbing at a very early stage.
One of the caves I explored when I was about 18/19 was lathkill hed cave and shortly after I went thro the corkscrew the roof collapsed, if we had been in at that time we would have been well trapped. Noticed one article on those links where someone had a roof fall, got his leg trapped, slid his foot out of his wellie and carried on exploring on his own while they dug him out. Mad, those cavers.

In reply to sutty:

Caving isn't for everyone, that's for sure. If you're not happy about being hours from the surface, in a tight passage whilst being soaked with freezing water, then don't apply.