Topic

I selected Sell Gill as a suitable cave for the weather (parking on a major road, a good track up to the cave and a route which is dry in most conditions).
The snow outside the hut presented the first problem: Turning the car round as there were piles of ice both behind & in front of the wheels.
We parked on the road near the CPC. The second problem was gauging how close to the kerb we were parking.
We then had the 40 minute walk up the hill. Fortunately the wind was not too strong and there were pleasant views of snow covered hills. We passed a ski-tourer on the way to the cave, he was having issues with the lack of consistent snow on the path.
Having got to the cave, we put SRT kits on and started the search for the bolts, some of which were under about 6 feet of snow.
Once we were underground we started to warm up. By the time we had done the third pitch, some of the team members were keen to look at the duck in the streamway (though no one was brave enough to do it).
There was a chilly wind where the water on the wet route was dragging cold air from the surface into the cave, making us glad that we had opted for the dry route.
We made quick work of the pitches on the way out. It was windier on the surface and the first anchor had been re-buried adding some more fun for the deriggers.
We had a brisk walk back to the cars passing some deep drifts, one of which was used by Klaudia to create a snow angel.
Just before the village we met the skier we had seen on the way to the cave, this time with his grumpy looking daughter and a pair of sledges.

Time: About 2.5 hours
Team: Klaudia, James, Lukas & Dave.