Nice video's Ian

speechless - great vid - but WTF was dan doing ?????

If you watched the video, you would of clearly seen, what i was doing was trying to get out.

my fat arse would not allow this though.

the weight should soon fall off me though, after Ian told me yesterday that i would have to stop drinking rebull, i've not had any today, the lack of sugar should soon kick in and the weight will just drop off me.

Mad-Dan wrote:
I did too lol

I think it is fantastic how Tim stays calm and supporting all through Dan's agony.
I assume all the others slipped through the vice easily.

Tim was laughing and the others made less of a meal of it - I made a few choice comments as I went up (first) to video the fun

i wasnt in agony John, i was never stuck, it is just that progress was slow as i couldnt bend my legs, and what you cant hear in the video is tim and dylan laughing their arse off at me.

that is not the worst ascent i've had to do, it is also not the tightest, not by a long shot.

you do realise you came through the narrowest part of the vice and if you where facing the other way (like you did on the way down) you would of shot up that like a cave snake. fatty

mike leahy wrote:
I know, but if i did it the easy way, how boring would this video be.

entertainment.

showbiz darling showbiz. i knew you where in the wrong game

I see Tony Oldham's posted a link to this video in the "Friday Joke" section of UK caving. Maybe Ian should ask him for a fee

Dave

Perhaps I should try to sell him a book about it ....

lol

Ian

JohnNicholson wrote:

Haha John, I knew he wasn't in any real bother - just being his typical moaning self! Even in the event he was struggling for real those around him remaining calm and keeping the mood light are more likely to help him relax up the climb than anything else.

Its really not as tight as he made it look and he was obviously never at any risk at all - other than ridicule, which he himself was encouraging

Note i went down the same pitch with a large rucksack on my back with a tripod and a pelicase in it on the way down and another large kit back hanging off with with two ropes in it without getting stuck so i 'knew' that however it felt it really wasn't tight! See approx 3min10sec into this video which is the same bit on the way down......



I didn't want to spoil the fun (coz i a mean evil bastard ) but if he'd turned half sideways on he'd have had space for him to bend his legs and even have a rucksack on his back and also if he'd moved over about 12" the gap was much wider. Or if he'd been facing the other way the curve of the rock would have matched the shape of his body better.

Why tell him any of that when its better to shoot up quickly after him only gloat at his exclamation of "how'd you get up there so fast?". All part of the fun of the sport Was a great day of banter - best for ages! Besides which it all gives dan something else to moan about and he loves moaning

If the drama had have been real then:

a) there was a way to climb past him and we could have just left him and gone to the pub - quite likely!

or,

b) rope from below could have been passed up and an assisted hoist rigged (or 101 other options) to get him out such that he could pay for the beers at said pub!

You'll learn all this when you complete your SRT training and get on some real trips - i notice Budgies posted some dates

Thanks for the explanation Tim.
You have also already answered a questionm i meant to ask ... did you go down one hole and back up another? i.e. did Dan and all of you pass easily through the vice on the way down or did you go down somewhere else?

It seems this deep narrow pot is not protected to prevent ramblers and other sheep falling own into its nightmare grip.

Probably because most people avoid a hole in the ground, whereas we see it as an opportunity.

Good vid Ian.

JohnNicholson wrote:
yer - we went exactly the same route in and then followed it out.

There is also an option for a single free handing 80m from top to bottom but wheres the fun it that? The route we took wandered from and back to the main 'pot' and was much more interesting

nom its just a big hole in the ground and relies on the basic desire of creatures wanting to stay alive not to attemp to leap down it rather than needing to rely on fences etc - we don't aim to fence every single cliff face and falling is pretty similar above of below ground! - hmmm... a normal creatures desire to stay alive keeps it out.....which i suppose says a lot about the average cavers state of mind!!??!!!!!

Are there many other gaping holes in the Yorkshire countryside like that? The impression I got from the video is that you could easily fall down that hole if your were just roaming about in the dark or in twilight.

JohnNicholson wrote:
There are a few like that in the dales.. alot are fenced off though

if you cant see the hole and fall into it is that called natural selection ??