Topic

Business first:  could the Jean Pot team check their kit for a purple Grivel Plume screwgate.  I'm one short.......Carol and I set off early to get on with the rigging, only to find that the rest of the team [Aidy and Nicola] were significantly faster than us up the hill and so they caught us up before we got to the pot.The weather was superb, and even more appreciated after the very wet period prior to the meet.  A day walking would have been nice.  Or even sun bathing........But true to our collective caving pedigree we headed underground.  I thought that this was going to be my 10th Jean Pot trip but I'd mis-calculated.  It was my 11th.  Nicola asked is it was a nice cave, and I replied that it was brilliant.   Thankfully, at the end of the day, she agreed with me.  Carol, who has only done a modest amount of caving, and nothing remotely as hard as Jean Pot, also had a good day, but was covered in some very impressive bruises.Highlights of the trip were two long crawls, some tricky climbs [one with a handline], a head dive move, a very muddy and insecure traverse made safe by a fixed line, a tight bend in a small tube which required re-orientation part way through, a tight pitch head which some of the team either made their Stop into a Simple, or extended on the short cows tail, sideways crawling round bends with no hope of changing the leading arm if you decided you'd made an error of choice, and some interesting rigging on spits and naturals.TC opted out of the 7th pitch, having had three mini epics getting back out. Carol stayed out too, and later commented that that 'was possibly the only smart decision of the day'.  However, both Aidy and Nicola braved the very narrow slot and went on to the very end [only a few meters beyond the end of the rope].  I didn't witness their return, but Aidy made quite a lot of noise and sported a grazed cheek for his troubles, so well done that man!A perfect day out........................?TeeCee