18/09/06 - Swinsto Pot - Valley Entrance

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Present: Ben Shaw, Tom Clayton and George North.

Tom, Ben and myself were supposed to be rigging Spectacle Pot on Sunday as part of the legendary Spectacle-Vesper\'s exchange. Unfortunately however after (yet another) late night in the pub awaiting the arrival of \"attractive young ladies\" we got up rather too late. In retrospect the promised arrival of \"attractive young ladies\" may just have been a cunning trick by the proprietors to get us to spend more time, and therefore more money in their establishment

Anyhow we finally gathered together in Kingsdale at about midday and opted for a quick trip down Swinsto and back out via Valley Entrance. Having done Simpson’s four times previously, but never Swinsto it was a trip that I have been meaning to do for quite some time. Fortunately it didn’t disappoint!

Once inside, the short entrance crawl quickly lead us to the top of the first pitch which seemed to be quite well watered, presumably due to the last couple of weeks being a bit damp. The infamous ‘long crawl’ follows and I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite enjoyable. The rock is finely scalloped and the floor is reasonably smooth and free of pebbles. Unfortunately for myself I’d left my knee-pads in Brian’s car after the Berger trip and so had to endure a small amount of discomfort towards the end of the crawl. This would have been worse had it not been for the numbing effect of the cold water!

After a couple of short pitches we reached the big pitch that is split by a very windy ledge (chamber really). It was here that with perfect timing Tom’s light decided to stop working for the day, and so he was forced to use his Tikka for the rest of the trip. A few more pitches lead to the junction with the Simpson’s Pot water and shortly after the final pitch, which we free climbed. I think the loose rock mentioned in NC3 must have fallen off over the years because the holds now seem fairly solid.

I never enjoy boulder chokes too much so I was pleased that none of the rocks decided to move as we slid down into the East Entrance Crawl from the foot of the Great Aven. A quick splash (I was definitely regretting not having knee-pads by now) soon had us down at the Master Junction and then on into the magnificent Master Cave. A final bit of interest was provided when the in-situ rope on the roof tunnel pitch was found to be totally knackered. Fortunately the free climb is fairly straight forward, although the route is a little devious.

About 1h45m after entering at the top of the hill we popped out of Valley Entrance with plenty of time to spare to go to the pub before we went home. Despite a slightly delayed start it had been an excellent Sunday trip.

George.