Much of the YSS A team went to see a particularly strenuous film marking 90 years of the Craven Club on Friday night and had to take the rest of the weekend off. As a result only Dave Chadwick and myself were available for Gingling Hole. As we bagged up in the cellar Dave told me that Hull Pot was full to the brim recently. I looked at the topo, it said ‘grade 5 floods to the roof’ - great!
We decided that if it was going to be flooded we might as well bag up for all 9 pitches – at least we would look keen. After spending a pleasant hour and a half spirographing around the moor we, unfortunately, found the cave entrance. By now it was almost 12:00 so we left enough rope for the last 2 pitches behind. Before long we were scurrying along the crawls to the accompaniment of Dave saying ‘the water wasn’t this deep last time’.
Once we reached the tighter sections the YSS bags, being even older and far more experienced than us, realised that it wasn’t going ‘to go’ and began to resist all forward movement. I had to leave mine behind a few times until I could find somewhere to turn round and go back for it. Eventually we realised that we need smaller bags, a bigger team or may be less rope and wriggled back out.
Dave Chadwick, Paul Magson.
